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Once More With Formaldehyde and Victoria’s Secret

On more than one occasion, Formaldehyde Facts has been forced to do some hard work debunking a story concerning Victoria's Secret bras and formaldehyde. The problem: time and time again, despite the fact that we've shared information with the media pointing out the flaws and contradictions of a story that's been flying around the Web for better than a year, reporters, editors and producers find the story too tempting to resist.

Too bad it simply isn't true.

The latest example comes from CNN, which posted an "Expert Q&A," written by Dr. Jennifer Shu, a pediatrician with the Children's Medical Group. When asked a question concerning formaldehyde in textiles, Dr. Shu wrote: "Formaldehyde is one example of a chemical used on some clothing to prevent the growth of certain bacteria. This preservative has been reported to cause allergic reactions on the skin, especially in areas of friction or sweating (such as rashes found in women wearing bras treated with formaldehyde)."

Yesterday, I tried to leave a comment on the page with a link to the information we've compiled on the story, but for some reason it didn't appear. Then again, I'm not exactly shocked, as we've seen in the past how news programs like Good Morning America seem more or less immune to the facts we present them on the case.

For more on the use of formaldehyde in textiles, click here.

Exposure, Dose, Hazard and Risk

Many of the activities in which humans engage carry substantial risk.

Key concepts: Exposure, Dose, Hazard & Risk

Exposure is not synonymous with dose.

Exposure: concentration of a substance with which a human or animal comes into contact. It is measured in milligrams per cubic meter in terms of airborne exposure and milligrams per liter in terms of aqueous exposure.

Dose: amount that gets into the body. It is measured in milligrams per kilogram of body weight.

Hazard: inherent capability of a substance to cause harm at some dose level – this may be very high.

Risk: the likelihood that a hazard will occur at a specified exposure.

Risk = Hazard x Dose (Exposure)

Formaldehyde presents an extremely low risk at exposure levels that are typically present in workplaces, products and indoor air concentrations.

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Chemistry

Carbon molecules are the basis for organic chemistry and the basis of all life. The formaldehyde molecule is one of the most basic carbon compounds, consisting of a single carbon atom bonded to two hydrogen atoms and covalently bonded to a single oxygen atom.

All organic life forms – bacteria, plants, fish, dogs and cats and humans – produce formaldehyde.

The air we breathe contains 1 to 68 parts-per-billion of formaldehyde.

Humans inhale it, exhale it and eat it in fruits and vegetables. In fact, the average person produces about 1.5 ounces of formaldehyde each day as part of normal metabolic processes.

Formaldehyde is normally present in human blood at a low steady-state concentration of approximately 1 to 2 parts-per-million (ppm).

Formaldehyde does not accumulate in the environment or within plants, animals or people, as it quickly breaks down in the body and the atmosphere.

Formaldehyde exists all around us naturally. It degrades in the presence of sunlight to CO2 and H2O.

Animals readily metabolize formaldehyde using an enzyme called aldehyde dehydrogenase (ADH).

Dependent Products

With a versatility born of simplicity, formaldehyde is one of the ancient building blocks utilized by and available to countless forms of life. The same holds true for commercial applications where numerous industries have capitalized on its ease of use.

Home Construction Applications

Asphalt shingles
Sheathing & cladding
Walls & wall panels
Floors & roof
Electrical boxes & outlets
Furniture
Counter tops, cabinets & cabinet doors
Appliances: washers, dryers, & dishwasher
Plumbing: faucets, showerheads, & valve mechanisms
Paints & varnishes

Aerospace Applications

Brake pads
Landing gear
Lubricants
Seats
Seatbelt buckles
Insulation of doors and windows
Interior walls and floors
Tire cord adhesive

Automotive Applications

Fuel System Components (Pump Housings, Filters, Impellers, Reservoirs, Senders, Gas Caps
Under the Hood (Molded components, Engine & Metallic Parts, Automatic Transmission Parts, Carburetor Floats)
Exterior (Exterior Primer, Clear Coat & Trim, Tire Cord Adhesive, Bumper)
Interior (Seats, Steering Wheel, Interior Trim, Brake Pads, Dashboard, Locks, Door Panels, Cup Holders, Head Rests & Windshield Wiper Parts)

Common Uses

Furniture, Flooring, Stairs, Cabinets and More
Glues that use formaldehyde as a building block are exceptional bonding agents. For example, formaldehyde-based resins are used to manufacture composite products used extensively in cabinetry, countertops, moldings, furniture, shelving and stair systems, flooring and many other household furnishings. These items are extremely economical due to the superior bonding properties and efficient production of formaldehyde-based glues.

Cars and Trucks
From the front to the rear bumpers, formaldehyde-based materials are key to the manufacture of automobiles, and used to make components for the transmission, electrical system, engine block, door panels, axles and brake shoes, just to name a few. It's even used in the paint.

Inks
Formaldehyde-based materials are used to produce the dollar bills we spend every day, the documents we print from our computers and the ink used in books, magazines and newspapers.

Wrinkle-Free Clothing
In textiles, formaldehyde-based materials help bind dyes and pigments to fabrics and prevents the colors from running. These materials help improve a fabric's resistance to wrinkles, ease clothing care and maintenance, and allow us to spend more time away from the ironing board.

Industry Uses
Formaldehyde is an important building block chemical that is vital to our economy. The wood products industry uses formaldehyde-based resins in a wide range of panel and board products, enabling efficient and economic use of wood resources. It is also important to agricultural and recreational products.

In addition, the natural gas and petroleum industries use formaldehyde-based resins in drilling operations and to improve oil and gas well yield and service life. Formaldehyde-based glues help paint adhere to surfaces and veneer and paper overlays to particleboard.

Formaldehyde's Unique Nature
Because of its unique and versatile nature, formaldehyde cannot be easily replaced in many consumer and industrial products. Without formaldehyde as the building block, the performance and value of a broad array of products that benefit from its chemistry would suffer. Home buyers would likely face increased costs or reduced performance from home construction materials ranging from hardwood plywood, particleboard and fiberboard used in housing and furniture.

Economic Importance

A 2003 report commissioned by the Formaldehyde Council, Inc. analyzed the formaldehyde product tree and traced each product to the ultimate point of consumption. Here are highlights of the major findings for economic contributions of the formaldehyde industry to the U.S. and Canadian economies in 2003, using a narrow definition of the industry:

Value of Sales: The value of sales of formaldehyde and derivative products amounted to $145 billion-plus. This represents 1.2% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the United States and Canada.
Employment: The total number of workers in the United States and Canada who depend on the formaldehyde industry is four million-plus. This includes direct employment in the industry and the indirect employment of those whose livelihoods depend on this industry. This represents nearly 3.4% of employment in private, nonfarm establishments in the United States and Canada.
Wages: Total wages for all of these workers amounted to nearly $130 billion, or 1.9% of the compensation of all U.S. and Canadian employees.
Value of Business Fixed Investment: Formaldehyde and derivatives production was carried out in facilities with an aggregate investment value of nearly $90 billion in the United States and Canada, representing 4.2% of the net stock of private fixed assets in the manufacturing sector.
Number of Plants: There are approximately 11,900 formaldehyde and derivative plants operating in the United States and Canada.

While there are some applications where other materials could replace formaldehyde with only a small incremental cost or performance penalty, in most instances the use of substitutes would entail significant cost increases or performance losses. Here are highlights of the major findings of benefits to consumers:

Consumers would have to spend an additional $17 billion per year (the equivalent of nearly $3,500 per metric ton of formaldehyde currently consumed) if formaldehyde-based products were replaced by substitute materials. Nearly 60% of the estimated benefits are attributed to three major applications: urea formaldehyde resins, phenol formaldehyde resins, and methylenebis(4-phenyl isocyanate) or MDI. In most cases, substitution in these end uses is very imperfect; consumers would suffer large losses in utility using alternative materials, and large new capital investments would be required to produce or utilize the substitutes.

Urea formaldehyde (UF) resin is one of the mainstays in the building and construction industry. Nearly 95% of UF resins are used as binders or adhesives in particleboard and medium-density fiberboard for composite panels, roofing tiles, hardwood plywood, and coatings. Wood products made using UF resins have predominant market shares in their main applications. Without UF resins, consumers would be forced to use more expensive, less versatile, and less durable materials, or else switch to entirely different construction methods. In most cases, switching to different construction methods is a significantly more costly alternative.

Phenol formaldehyde (PF) resin is another mainstay in the building and construction industry. Nearly 75% of PF resins are used to make structural panels, insulation binder and laminates. Other significant end uses include automobile applications (e.g. friction materials) and foundry binders. Like UF resins, PF resins have predominant market shares in major applications. Without PF resins, consumers would be forced to use more expensive, less desirable, and less versatile materials, or switch to alternative construction methods.

The majority of MDI is used in the manufacture of rigid polyurethane foams. These products’ superior insulating and mechanical properties benefit their numerous construction applications. Other MDI rigid foam applications include appliances (e.g., refrigerators, freezers, and air conditioners), packaging for high- end electronics, and transportation. In the absence of MDI, consumers would be forced to use less effective materials and would experience significant losses of utility (e.g. inferior insulation properties, increased breakage or spoilage).

The Formaldehyde Process Chain

Formaldehyde is produced from methanol (a natural gas derivative) using a catalytic oxidation process. Thirteen companies in the United States and six companies in Canada produce formaldehyde; three companies (Hexion, Celanese, and Dynea) have formaldehyde plants in both the United States and Canada. At the end of 2003, there were a total of 40 formaldehyde production sites in the United States and 11 in Canada.
Formaldehyde plants typically are located close to where the chemical is consumed in order to reduce transportation costs. Thus, it is common to find these plants in all parts of the country and, indeed, the world.

Production of formaldehyde in the United States in 2003 amounted to 4.33 million metric tons; production in Canada amounted to 775,000 metric tons. Formaldehyde is classified as an “organic chemical intermediate.” Formaldehyde ranks as the fifth largest volume product in this class in the United States, according to the United States International Trade Commission and American Chemistry Council. Using the market price of formaldehyde in 2003 as a yardstick, the U.S. value of formaldehyde production was $1.5 billion. However, this measure does not account for the considerable and diverse value-added products that are derived from formaldehyde.

To understand the economic importance of formaldehyde, we must trace each of these derivatives to their ultimate end use in the economy. This is a complicated and detailed process. We summarize below how four major sectors of the economy depend on the products of formaldehyde chemistry.

Residential Construction: These products include the crucial adhesives used for making products like plywood, sheathing and cladding, asphalt shingles, cabinets and cabinet doors, floors, furniture and paneling; other applications include laminated countertops and flooring systems, plumbing mechanisms, paints and varnishes, electrical boxes and outlets, and bedding;
Automobiles: These products can be found in molded under-the-hood components due to their ability to withstand high temperatures, in exterior primer and clear coat paints for their durability and gloss retention, in tire cord adhesives, in brake pads, and in critical fuel system components;
Civillian and Military Aircraft: These products can be found in landing gear components, lubricants that can withstand both extreme hot and cold temperatures, brake pads, and door and window insulation; and
Health Care Applications: These products are used widely for vaccine manufacturing, as an active ingredient in anti-infective drugs, for hard-gel capsule manufacturing, in pharmaceutical research (especially proteomics and genomics research), and as a denaturant for ribonucleic acid analysis.

Formaldehyde Facts

Formaldehyde Facts is FCI's small space on the Web to talk about formaldehyde. We'll do our best to separate fact from fiction, and cut through all the clutter you get from the mainstream media when it comes to the industrial uses of the molecule, one of the most versatile industrial chemicals known to man.

Fact Sheets

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Indoor Air

One of the most important uses of formaldehyde is in adhesives, which benefit from its chemistry and are employed in the production of wood composite products that are extensively used in furniture, kitchen cabinets, counters and flooring. While very little formaldehyde is present in a form that can be released, small quantities of formaldehyde gas can be emitted from various wood composite products. These low level emissions diminish over time.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has standards that limit formaldehyde emissions from wood products and industry has set its own voluntary standards that are even more restrictive. Industry's commitment to improving technology has resulted in decreasing releases of formaldehyde from products. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in a 1997 paper, "Formaldehyde is normally present at low levels, usually less than 0.03 ppm (parts per million), in both outdoor and indoor air." Two recent studies have concluded that thermal insulation products manufactured with phenol-formaldehyde resins likely do not result in significant formaldehyde concentrations in buildings.

See more information on Formaldehye and Total Volatile Organic Compound Emissions From Thermal Insulation Products
See more information on Formaldehye Emissions From Residential Thermal Insulation Products

For press inquiries, please call 703-875-0710.

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Scientific Studies

Irritation Studies

Formaldehyde can be irritating to the eyes, nose and throat, but for most people, irritation is temporary and reversible ("A Recommended Occupational Exposure Limit for Formaldehdye Based on Irritation," Dennis Paustenbach, et al., Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, 1997). It is difficult to measure levels at which irritation begins due to the subjective nature of comparison ("The Use of Noncancer Endpoints as a Basis for Establishing a Reference Concentration for Formaldehyde," Joel Bender, Reg. Toxicology and Pharmacology, February 2002). The eyes are most sensitive to formaldehyde exposure: The lowest level at which many people can begin to smell formaldehyde is about 0.3 parts per million (ppm).

In controlled chamber studies, individuals begin to sense eye irritation at about 0.5 ppm; 5 to 20 percent report eye irritation at 0.5 to 1 ppm; and greater certainty for sensory irritation occurred at 1 ppm and above (Bender). (In these controlled studies, persons not exposed to formaldehyde often reported a 20-30% response rate for eye, nose and throat irritation. Thus, the background rate of response was often higher than the rate in people reporting subjective signs of irritation at low levels of formaldehyde exposure.)

An expert panel review of over 150 published studies found that eye irritation does not become significant until around 1 ppm, and moderate to severe eye, nose, and throat irritation occurs at 2 to 3 ppm.

While some agencies have used a level as low as 0.1 ppm as a threshold for irritation, the expert panel found that a level of 0.3 ppm would protect against nearly all irritation. In fact, the expert panel found that a level of 1.0 ppm would avoid eye irritation -- the most sensitive endpoint -- in 75-95% of all people exposed (Paustenbach).

In any event, normal environmental exposures are below these levels. An U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study found a new home measured 0.076 ppm when brand new and 0.045 ppm after 30 days ("Residential Indoor Air Formaldehyde Testing Program: A Pilot Study," M. Koontz, et al, prepared for U.S. EPA, 1996).

Cancer Studies

Nasal or Other Respiratory Tract Cancer

Concern about whether formaldehyde might cause cancer in humans arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when it was discovered that high levels of formaldehyde (6-15 parts per million) caused nasal cancer in laboratory rats. Low levels (at or below 2 ppm) did not cause cancer in the animals, and scientists set about trying to learn why this was the case.

After more than two decades of research -- making formaldehyde one of the most thoroughly examined chemicals in history -- there is widespread scientific recognition that the effects observed in the respiratory tract, specifically the nose, in laboratory animals at levels of 6 to 15 ppm will not occur in people exposed to much lower levels (such as typical levels of hundredths of a ppm). This is because scientists now have a good understanding of how formaldehyde causes nasal cancer in animals at high levels. Unless levels get high enough to kill cells, nasal cancer is not expected to occur. Thus, at the levels to which people are exposed, most scientists believe that there is essentially no risk of any form of respiratory cancer. An international review completed in 2002 stated this in more formal scientific terms: "There is no convincing evidence of increased risks of nasopharyngeal cancer in cohort studies of populations of professionals or industrial workers exposed to formaldehyde, since the total number of cases of this rare cancer is small."
New Epidemiology Developments

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) 2002 SIDS Initial Assessment Profile states that, "In some studies increased risks of various non-respiratory tract cancers . . . have been observed, but without any consistent pattern and without evidence of a causal relationship with formaldehyde exposure. Since kinetic studies indicate that most inhaled formaldehyde is deposited within the upper respiratory tract, available evidence for tumours at sites other than the respiratory tract does not fulfill criteria of causality (e.g. consistency, biological plausibility)."

Three papers recently published report conflicting results with respect to formaldehyde occupational exposure and an association with leukemia. An association between formaldehyde and leukemia is not thought to be probable based on the current scientific understanding of the biology of how formaldehyde acts in the body. Inhaled formaldehyde is expected to act on the upper respiratory tract and not at distant sites in the body.

It is important to remember that almost all of the exposure studied by these researchers occurred during the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. The levels of formaldehyde exposure in today's workplaces have declined substantially. So while these studies may be of interest in a historical context they should be evaluated in the context of current exposure levels. The new studies add to the large body of data on formaldehyde, but do not change the conclusion that current regulatory limits are protective.
More Details on Cancer Research

Evaluating the multitude of prior studies, scientific experts and regulators have focused most of their attention on nasopharyngeal cancers specifically, or on potential respiratory tract cancer generally. A review by the CIIT Centers for Health Research noted that increases in tumors at sites other than the respiratory tract have been reported sporadically, with little consistent pattern. In 1999, the CIIT, with input from scientists associated with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Health Canada and academic peer reviewers, performed a thorough evaluation of twenty years of formaldehyde research. Using modeling based on human and animal data, CIIT predicted negligible risk of respiratory cancer at environmentally relevant levels (Formaldehyde: Hazard Characterization and dose-response assessment for carcinogenicity by the route of inhalation, revised ed. 1999, CIIT Centers for Health Research).

Numerous other authoritative groups from around the globe, including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, SIDS Initial Assessment Profile April 2002, the German MAK Commission (which sets occupational exposure levels), and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission have reached similar conclusions.

A recent OECD and World Health Organization review found that formaldehyde is unlikely to cause cancer at doses that are not cytotoxic (high enough to kill cells) and sustained. Thus, cancer from inhaled formaldehyde is not expected to occur at the levels to which humans are exposed.

Asthma Studies

Formaldehyde exposure has not been demonstrated to cause bronchial asthma. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry states that investigations into this possibility have provided very limited evidence of an association. A report by the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine similarly found inadequate evidence of any association between formaldehyde exposure and asthma induction. Several clinical investigations of asthma cases suspected to be due to formaldehyde failed to confirm even a single case based on inhalation tests. There are also studies indicating that asthmatic individuals are not more sensitive to the irritant effects of formaldehyde than healthy people (National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine - "Clearing the Air: Asthma and Indoor Air Exposures" and Joel Bender - "The Use of Noncancer Endpoints as a Basis for Establishing a Reference Concentration for Formaldehyde"). For more information visit: www.atsdr.cdc.gov.

Reproduction/Childrens' Development Studies

Formaldehyde is not considered to have reproductive or developmental effects on humans. A comprehensive review of the scientific literature concluded: "Given formaldehyde's rapid metabolism and reactivity, reproductive and developmental effects appear unlikely from low inhalation and dermal exposure." (James Collins, et al. - "A Review of Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes and Formaldehyde Exposure in Human and Animal Studies").

FAQ

FCI Brochure with answers to questions about formaldehyde in general, its use in commerce, workplace exposure, environmental impacts and alternatives. October 2007

Answers to Your Questions About the International Agency for Research on Cancer's (IARC) Reclassification of Formaldehyde

Questions and Answers on Formaldehyde Epidemiology Studies

Resources

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Quick Facts

Even simple creatures such as paramecium use formaldehyde.

Formaldehyde has been a source of food for simple life forms such as bacteria before man walked the planet. Lots of organisms use it for the carbon it contains. In the process, the simple molecule is broken down to simpler substances such as carbon dioxide. If it's not being munched on by creatures that live in soil and water, sunlight breaks it down through a process known as photodegradation.
Nearly everything in the plant and animal kingdoms makes formaldehyde at various levels through the complicated process of living. And what the complicated organisms produce, the simple creatures eat.
The bottom line is that formaldehyde doesn't stick around very long so it doesn't accumulate in the human body or in the environment.
While little or no formaldehyde is present in the final product, the chemical is an essential building block in the production of some of the most common consumer items, including paper towels, photographic film, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, lipstick and nail polish and acts as an anti-bacterial agent in such consumer products as mascara.
Without formaldehyde, it would be tough to find a lot of products consumers use every day.
Drugs taken in pill form are made more effective by formaldehyde, which is used to make the hard pill coatings that dissolve slowly and deliver a more complete dosage.

Health & Safety

Formaldehyde is an extensively regulated material. Mandatory government regulations set standards to protect human health and the environment. These requirements allow for the safe production, storage, handling and use of this important building block chemical.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sets standards for workplace exposures to formaldehyde. These comprehensive health standards include limits on permissible exposures, requirements for monitoring employee exposures in the workplace, protective measures including engineering controls, medical surveillance and communication and training about hazards.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) sets standards that limit formaldehyde emissions from wood products for use in manufactured housing. Three agencies - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency(EPA), Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) - have addressed indoor air exposure to formaldehyde. Since industry voluntarily adopted product emission standards and low-emitting resins were developed, indoor formaldehyde emissions have declined significantly. CPSC determined that independent CPSC action was superfluous given the voluntary actions and low levels of formaldehyde.

California Air Resources Board's (CARB) recently released a report on indoor air pollution, which includes numerous references to formaldehyde. Read FCI's comments.

Everyday Benefits

Everyday Medical Applications

Urinary tract infections afflict people worldwide. In the United States and Canada more than $1 billion is spent each year to treat them. The majority of the cases are treated using a derivative of formaldehyde (methenamine). While the chemical reactions may be a bit complex, the bottom line is that formaldehyde kills the infection. Antibiotics represent one alternative to using formaldehyde-based drugs, however, bacterial resistance develops using antibiotics. Bacteria are incapable of developing resistance to formaldehyde, so it remains the treatment of choice.

Formaldehyde is used to create the enteric or hard capsules that are used to deliver drugs in the form of pills to millions of people worldwide every day. The formaldehyde-based pill coatings slow the dissolution of the capsule and promote maximum absorption of the medicine.

Topical creams, cosmetics and personal hygiene products contain active ingredients that prevent the growth of potentially harmful bacteria. Some of these ingredients are derivatives of formaldehyde.

Anyone suffering from coronary artery disease knows the horrible pain and anxiety that accompanies angina – the suffocating chest pain associated with lack of oxygen to the heart muscle. The nitroglycerin pills placed under the tongue that ease these attacks are made from a formaldehyde byproduct.
Implanted Medical Devices and Prosthetics

Formaldehyde is used to make many types of plastic with very different properties. One of those plastics is used to manufacture such delicate and lifesaving items as artificial heart valves and pacemakers.

It is also used as to make artificial limbs. Thousands of people each year, including badly wounded military service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, are fitted with prosthetic limbs that allow them to lead fuller lives.
The Life Sciences

The life sciences would be lost without the benefits that formaldehyde provides the industry. The compound is used in research laboratories throughout the world as a tissue preservative and in processes that identify proteins, DNA and RNA. So it even benefits those in the field of forensics by enhancing their ability to separate complex proteins such as blood and make a positive identification of its source. Formaldehyde also plays a pivotal role in furthering the study of proteins and genes by the pharmaceutical industry. Since the end of the 19th century, Formaldehyde has been used in embalming for its preservative and disinfection qualities.
Formaldehyde is Safe

There is widespread confidence that when formaldehyde is handled and used properly, the public and workers are protected. A recent international review of over 150 published studies concluded that the human health effects of formaldehyde are well understood and require no further study. The well-respected review also found that exposure is controlled in occupational settings.

Applications

When you wash your hair or brush your teeth, you’re using toiletries that are made safer because they are preserved against the growth of bacteria.

Formaldehyde has been routinely used for decades in hundreds of products. Some of them touch your body every day and you don't even know it. Many different resins are created from formaldehyde. These resins in turn are used to create other compounds having different properties. These compounds can be used as preservatives in personal hygiene products because they kill bacteria or used to make other products more effective in terms of foaming action such as soaps and detergents. These products improve your hygiene and subsequently your health.

The science behind the use of this simple molecule is extensive. Chemistry has allowed the responsible use of formaldehyde in all kinds of every day products such as plastics, carpeting, clothing, resins, glues, medicines, vaccines and the film used in x-rays. The very first times that you encounter formaldehyde as a child, you don’t know it, but it's the medium in which you receive vaccinations for childhood diseases. These include diphtheria, polio and influenza, to name a few.

Formaldehyde probably makes its first lasting impression during biology class when young students dissect their first frogs. Other students may be presented with fetal pigs for dissection. In either case, the animals have been preserved with formaldehyde to ensure that the organ systems remain intact for anatomical investigation. It’s also used to preserve cadavers for use by medical schools in teaching human anatomy.

Along with the memories of that first dissection many students also remember the pungent smell that accompanied their first wielding of a scalpel. That smell is the preservative formaldehyde. It has been used for tissue and organ preservation for more than a century and has greatly assisted biological science. By preserving tissues, organs and entire bodies, the teaching of science is spread throughout the world.

Formaldehyde is a critical ingredient in the production of hundreds of items that improve everyday life. While little or no formaldehyde is present in the final product, the chemical is an essential building block in the production of some of the most common consumer items, including paper towels, photographic film, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, lipstick and nail polish and acts as an anti-bacterial agent in such consumer products as mascara.

In many instances, because of formaldehyde’s unique physical and chemical properties, few compounds can replace it as a raw material without reducing performance and making the final products more expensive. Whether it’s plywood for home construction, fuel system components for automobiles or door and window insulation for modern airliners, using formaldehyde translates into greater utility for consumers in the form of extended use, consistent quality and improved performance and safety.

Economy

People benefit from products that contain formaldehyde every day. This chemical is a critical and commercially valuable basic building block of our modern society. – While embalming is one of formaldehyde’s earliest and best-known uses, this application represents less than 1% of formaldehyde consumption. On the other hand, products derived from formaldehyde have an extremely broad role in the economy, even though the fact that these products rely on formaldehyde is largely invisible to the public.

In many instances, because of formaldehyde’s unique physical and chemical properties, few compounds can replace it as a raw material without reducing performance and making the final products more expensive. Whether it’s plywood for home construction, fuel system components for automobiles or door and window insulation for modern airliners, using formaldehyde translates into greater utility for consumers in the form of extended use, consistent quality and improved performance and safety.

Environment

Formaldehyde is a naturally occurring substance in the environment made of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, natural processes in the upper atmosphere may contribute up to 90 percent of the total formaldehyde in the environment (World Health Organization, International Programme on Chemical Safety, Concise International Chemical Assessment Document: Formaldehyde). Since formaldehyde is a by-product of combustion, cars and trucks emit formaldehyde, as does burning wood (EPA Office of Air Quality, National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment, SAB Review Draft, Table 4-8, 2001). Formaldehyde does not accumulate in the environment, because it is broken down within a few hours by sunlight or by bacteria present in soil or water. Humans metabolize formaldehyde quickly, so it does not accumulate in the body.

In The Home and Outdoors

One of the most important uses of formaldehyde is in adhesives, which benefit from its chemistry and are employed in the production of wood composite products that are extensively used in furniture, kitchen cabinets, counters and flooring. While very little formaldehyde is present in a form that can be released, small quantities of formaldehyde gas can be emitted from various wood composite products. These low level emissions diminish over time. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has standards that limit formaldehyde emissions from wood products and industry has set its own voluntary standards that are even more restrictive.

Industry's commitment to improving technology has resulted in decreasing releases of formaldehyde from products. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in a 1997 paper, "Formaldehyde is normally present at low levels, usually less than 0.03 ppm (parts per million), in both outdoor and indoor air."

Two recent studies have concluded that thermal insulation products manufactured with phenol-formaldehyde resins likely do not result in significant formaldehyde concentrations in buildings.

There are emissions of formaldehyde from some industrial facilities, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established limits and requires facilities to report the amount of formaldehyde used. EPA also regulates the amount of formaldehyde emitted in automobile exhaust.

The EPA limits emissions from manufacturing facilities that make or use formaldehyde, requires facilities to report the amount of formaldehyde emitted, and regulates the amount of formaldehyde in automobile exhaust.

Member Companies

Contact

The Formaldehyde Council, Inc.
Betsy Natz, Executive Director
801 North Quincy Street, Suite 700
Arlington, VA 22203

Phone: (703) 875-0710
Fax: (703) 841-1543

For more information, click here to send an email.

About FCI

The Formaldehyde Council, Inc. is a non-profit association that represents the leading producers and users of formaldehyde in the United States. Formed in January 2004, FCI was created principally to address the health effects of formaldehyde through the conduct of research and to communicate the results of the research to federal, state and international agencies.

FCI's mission is to encourage accurate scientific evaluation of formaldehyde and formaldehyde-based materials and to communicate sound scientific information relating to the uses, benefits and sustainability of these products.

FCI Staff

Betsy Natz, Executive Director
Betsy Natz is the Executive Director of the Formaldehyde Council, Inc. Natz has been with FCI since it was formed in January 2004. From 2002 to 2003, Natz served as Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of External Relations (OER) — Office of the Commissioner — at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

For nearly 14 years she served as the founding Executive Director of the Styrene Information and Research Center (SIRC). She planned and directed activities with external groups including the White House and its Offices of Science and Technology Policy, Management and Budget, and Policy Development; Congress, state agencies, industry, consumer groups and other special interest groups and public health community.

In addition she has worked on Capitol Hill for two United States Senators, Frank Murkowski (R-AK) and, on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation under Senator Jack Danforth (R-MO).

Natz also worked for President Ronald Reagan and Smith Bucklin & Associates, a trade association management firm. She received a Bachelors of Science in Political Science from the American University.
Sarah Macedo, Manager, Public Affairs
Sarah Macedo received her undergraduate degree in Marketing from the University of Rhode Island. Before joining FCI in mid-2007 Sarah served as Industry Meeting Coordinator at Freeman and was an independent event coordinator.