Producers of Furniture Eye the Future : Environment: AQMD, Edison show them less- polluting products that could help keep them in the area.

Southern California furniture makers have long complained that stringent environmental regulations were at least partly responsible for a mass exodus of manufacturers out of the area since 1988.

“Solutions” may finally be at hand.

Furniture makers Friday got some insight into how they can use alternative products to meet tough regulations and thus remain in the region.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District and Southern California Edison conducted a joint project to test various water-based coatings that can be used in the furniture finishing process.

The hope is that these coatings could help Southland manufacturers meet a 1994 deadline to comply with air pollution emissions standards. The deadline is the result of rules issued in 1988 by the AQMD to force manufacturers who can’t afford expensive filters to abandon current lacquer-based paints, sealants and other coatings used in finishing furniture. Those materials emit polluting fumes into the atmosphere.

Southland furniture makers have contended that the rules are impractical and partially responsible for a more than 50% reduction in employment in the industry since 1988. Several Southland companies moved operations to Mexico or other states, in part because of anti-pollution regulations, they say.

More than 100 furniture makers attended Friday’s seminar at an Edison technology center in Irwindale to discuss the results of the joint project. Representatives of makers of water-based products, which emit significantly fewer pollutants into the atmosphere, were also on hand.

The furniture makers expressed mixed feelings about whether the alternative coatings will meet their needs.

Gary Stafford, past president of the California Furniture Manufacturers Assn., said the water-based coatings are of a lower quality than his previous solvents and that they cost about 1 1/2 times more. Stafford also said he can use the coatings on only half his products because he doesn’t think those that he tested are suitable for the quality of goods made by his company, City of Industry-based Terra Furniture.

Al Sandberg, president of Los Angeles-based Sandberg Furniture, said he also experienced difficulties using water-based coatings. Production is slowed 10% to 15% because of problems encountered in making the water-based products interact with wood, he said.

The AQMD rules are “making it difficult for our factories to compete with the rest of the United States,” Sandberg said.

By January, 1996, according to the AQMD, all U.S. manufacturers will have to make similar changes because of new federal government emissions standards.

Some Southern California furniture makers at Friday’s seminar said they have been satisfied with the water-based products.

“I like using them better; they’re non-flammable and a lot healthier,” said Tom Horton, owner of Canyon Country-based Horton’s Furniture Center, a furniture restoration company. He said he uses water-based coatings on all his products.

Makers of the coatings said they will work with manufacturers to help them find the right products for their needs.

“Changes in procedure always make people nervous,” said Mike Sundell, vice president of marketing of Matrix Coatings, one of the exhibitors at the seminar. The trick is to take into account the furniture maker’s manufacturing process when selecting a coating, he said.

The AQMD will hold another seminar Monday in Irwindale, and will hold others in September at other Southland locations.