If particle board is sealed (with melamine), the off gasing is eliminated. To be complete, you would want to seal the back/exposed particle board with a brush on sealer. It is difficult to know how far to go with being green. All the plywood in our houses contains formaldahyde, all the pvc piping carrying our water, all the vinyl flooring used everyday, it is all toxic. I have come to the conclusion I will do the best I possibly can ( and afford to do) to eliminate waste, use responsible products in our remodel/addition and try to educate others about the steps we have personally taken to lower our impact.
