Formaldehyde in Your Home: What you need to know | Formaldehyde and Your Health (2024)

FAQs

Formaldehyde in Your Home: What you need to know | Formaldehyde and Your Health? ›

How Can Formaldehyde Affect My Health? Breathing air containing low levels of formaldehyde can cause burning and watering eyes. As levels increase, it can cause burning of the nose and throat, coughing, and difficulty in breathing.

As levels increase, some people have breathing problems or irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, or skin from formaldehyde exposure in their homes. These health effects can happen in anyone, but children, older adults, and people with asthma and other breathing problems are more likely to have these symptoms.

Health Effects of Formaldehyde

Formaldehyde can cause irritation of the skin, eyes, nose, and throat. High levels of exposure may cause some types of cancers. Learn more from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry about the health effects of formaldehyde exposure.

Formaldehyde is also a byproduct of combustion. When burning natural gas, kerosene, gasoline, wood, or tobacco, formaldehyde is produced. Automobile exhaust is a common source of formaldehyde in our environment. Tobacco smoking in the home is another source of the chemical in the indoor environment.

In homes, the most significant sources of formaldehyde are likely to be pressed wood products made using adhesives that contain urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins.

As levels increase, it can cause burning of the nose and throat, coughing, and difficulty in breathing. Some people may be more sensitive to formaldehyde and have effects at levels lower than expected. Strong mixtures of formaldehyde gas or liquid can cause irritation or a rash if they contact the skin.

Odor Reduction

Formaldehyde air purifiers not only remove formaldehyde but also the odors created by the gas.

Formaldehyde is found in manufactured wood products used as building materials such as OSB, plywood, MDF, and particle board. These manufactured wood products are also found in furniture like desks, bookshelves, beds, kitchen cabinets, and more.

Formaldehyde can cause irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, even at low levels for short periods. Longer exposure or higher doses can cause coughing or choking. Severe exposure can cause death from throat swelling or from chemical burns to the lungs.

Ventilate regularly

Formaldehyde levels are likely to be highest in well-sealed homes. Regular ventilation can help to expel VOC's (volatile organic compounds) like benzene, ethylene glycol and formaldehyde, which are all present in homes. To reduce exposure to pollutants, open windows and doors periodically.

Where is formaldehyde found in homes? ›

Formaldehyde may be found in the paint on your walls, as well as in the carpet adhesives on the floor. Some paints, however, are advertised as “low-VOC” or “zero-VOC” and may contain lower levels of formaldehyde. If you have wood paneling on your walls, formaldehyde may be present there, too.

Indoor formaldehyde mainly comes from materials used in new furniture and construction, such as adhesives, slabs, coatings, oil paints, and wall fabrics. If it's not adequately dealt with, formaldehyde levels can remain dangerously high for up to 15 years after years of ventilation and air purification of a new home.

At higher levels, formaldehyde exposure can cause skin rashes, shortness of breath, wheezing and changes in lung function. Children, the elderly and people with asthma or other breathing problems may be more sensitive to the effects of formaldehyde.

Formaldehyde is a common indoor air pollutant. It is a gas that can irritate a person's eyes, nose, throat, and lungs, or trigger an asthma attack, even at low concentrations.

Formaldehyde can be found naturally in food up to the levels of 300 to 400 mg/kg, including fruits and vegetables (e.g. pear, apple, green onion), meats, fish (e.g., Bombay-duck, cod fish), crustacean and dried mushroom, etc ( Appendix).

short-term exposure: 123 µg/m³ or 100 ppb based on a 1-hour average to protect against irritation of the eyes, nose or throat. long-term exposure: 50 µg/m³ or 40 ppb based on a minimum 8-hour average, to protect against respiratory symptoms in children with asthma.

A weight of evidence-based formaldehyde exposure limit of 0.1 ppm (100 ppb) is recommended as an indoor air level for all individuals for odor detection and sensory irritation.

Ventilate regularly

Formaldehyde levels are likely to be highest in well-sealed homes. Regular ventilation can help to expel VOC's (volatile organic compounds) like benzene, ethylene glycol and formaldehyde, which are all present in homes. To reduce exposure to pollutants, open windows and doors periodically.