It's classified in Europe as a carcinogen and a potential groundwater contaminant, though it appears testing in Germany and Netherlands didn't find it to be widespread, and concluded more monitoring should be done.

Good reasons to wear a dust mask while cutting the stuff, as if the wood dust and particle board risks weren't already a good enough reason.

On the positive side, it's shiny and bright for utilitarian furniture applications. Probably shouldn't lick my shelving.

#Melamine

Curious about the stuff, as we find it all through our homes:

" #Melamine has a variety of industrial and domestic uses: it is used in paints and coatings in consumer and commercial products, in foam seating and bedding and it has applications as a plasticiser in concrete and in automobile brake tubes and hose. It is also included in thermally fused melamine paper and shelves, whiteboards and flakeboards, paints, sealants for mechanical, electrical and plumbing applications, and in inkjet ink."

[It's been over a decade since I started eliminating all plastics from our household, as much as possible (thanks to getting pregnant & reading up on them). One thing I always encourage people to eliminate first is plastics in the kitchen: e.g.nonstick items, & #melamine.]

"melamine...used to make bowls & other dinnerware...is classified as a carcinogen by the European Union & has been detected in drinking water, yet it is widely used."