I'm having painted shaker style cabinets built by a local cabinet guy. He strongly suggests using MDF for the center panel on door and drawer faces to avoid the hairline cracks and separation that would occur if I used solid wood. I understand that some of the panels would be composed of multiple wood slabs glued together, and that these could expand and contract unevenly, causing the paint to separate.

I don't want to use MDF because of its toxicity ... off-gassing formaldehyde. He agreed to do whatever I request, and we're moving forward planning on using soft maple instead, but now I'm doubting myself.

I'm sure I want to avoid toxic materials, but I'm wondering now if my concerns are overblown or if there is a better alternative to MDF?

Anyone here have solid wood cabinet fronts that are painted (not stained)? What's been your experience?

As a side point about why I want to avoid toxic materials, I recently bought a children's dresser from Pottery Barn for my nursery, and I couldn't get rid of the chemical "new dresser" odor for months. When my mother came to visit, she got a splitting headache after sleeping in the room with the stinky dresser (she was the first to sleep there as baby hadn't yet arrived). We researched it and figured it was off gassing since it's made of cheap materials. We got rid of it, aired out the room and everyone felt better. I couldn't imagine having had my newborn breathing those fumes, and can't imagine having an entire kitchen emitting VOCs. There seems to be enough toxic crap you can't avoid while remodeling, so my efforts are on minimizing where I can.

Should avoiding MDF be one place where I make an air-quality decision?