Dear Paolo and Gerda,
  I am not sure about teak but I can offer the following insight on wood
and cabinets in general.  I will see if I can find out anything regarding
teak specifically.


From a chapter that I am writing for a book.....

As mentioned above, wood can be a source of the acids. Some woods are more
acidic in nature than others are, and these should be avoided when
constructing cabinets. The worst offender is oak. Some of the better woods
are spruce, mahogany, walnut, birch, basswood, poplar, and balsa. If the
woods being used are veneers, then one has to be concerned with the
adhesives used in making the veneers and whether they will offgas acidic
fumes.

Plywoods are often constructed using urethane adhesives which can offgas
formaldehyde, an acidic compound. If plywood has to be used, one designed
for exterior use is preferred. The adhesives used are less harmful than
those used in interior plywoods, and the offgassing problem is less
intense. Particleboard and pressed wood should be avoided because of the
adhesives used in their production

The ideal cabinet construction is a metal cabinet that is painted using a
powder coat process. Here the metal is painted by a process of
electrostatically coating the surface with pulverized polymers (the paint)
and then fusing is to the metal with heat. There is no offgasing of
organic solvents or other substances. Two manufacturers of such cabinets
are Lane Scientific Equipment Corp. and Steel Fixture Manufacturing Co.

If a wooden cabinet is being painted, water based paints and varnishes are
preferred. Oil based products can give off formaldehyde and other volatile
organic compounds (VOC). These can contribute to Bynesian Decay. Allow
four weeks for the cabinet to completely air out and offgas before putting
specimens into it


Regards,
Charlie
******************************************************************************
Charlie Sturm, Jr
Research Associate - Section of Mollusks
                     Carnegie Museum of Natural History
                     Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Assistant Professor - Family Medicine

[log in to unmask]