Formaldehyde from Cleaning Products
in Homes
Short, D.B.
ABSTRACT
Formaldehyde, a carcinogenic indoor air pollutant was measured in __ residential buildings. Airborne
formaldehyde levels were measured after cleaning with formaldehyde containing cleaning agents.
Exposures are compared with industrial and academic workers.
INTRODUCTION
Formaldehyde is everywhere, its low cost means use in many building materials and thousands of
household products produce millions of exposures.
What is formaldehyde, what is it used for, why are we at risk from IAQ.
Industrial uses: Formaldehyde is used extensively in the chemical, adhesive, paint, plastic, construction,
textile, paper, and cosmetic industries; in the manufacture of pressed wood products (urea resins in
plywood wall paneling, particle board, and fiber board); in fertilizers; in permanent press products and
other textiles; in paper; and in glue (Bernstein et al., 1984). It is also formed during the burning of organic
materials and is found in tobacco smoke (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [U.S. EPA], 2011).
Weschler (2009)
Formaldehyde from wood products, long paper
Why measure formaldehyde?
Exposure to formaldehyde in living space has been found to be associated with asthma and 'sick house
syndrome'. [Sakamoto, T.,and Miyake, M. (2010)]
Find survey of amount of time spent indoors 70 %, 90 % or higher for elderly.
Talk about why it needs to be present, what are alternatives.
RIGHT TO KNOW ACT
Rep. Steve Israel has introduced a bill, The Cleaning Product Right to Know Act of 2011.
TOCIXOLOGY:
Known International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) group 1 carcinogen (known to be
carcinogenic to humans). Same group as benzene, arsenic, asbestos, ionizing radiation.
LEVELS: European regulators have been active and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has
taken its own initiatives.
But even CARB has only made recommendations - "...highly desirable that residential levels remain well
below 27 ppb (0.02 ppm)."
The problem of avoiding formaldehyde is exacerbated by the many decay reaction partial products and
product names it hides under.
Here is a partial list of tell-tales;
methanal, methylene oxide, oxymethyline, methylaldehyde, oxomethane, formalin, and morbicid
acid.
methylene glycol, or formaldehyde releasing preservatives, DMDM Hydantoin, Urea, quaternium15, 2 Bromo-2 nitropane- 1,3 Diol, 5-Bromo-5-Nitro-1,3 Dioxane, and Methenamine.
The comparison to health guidelines showed that formaldehyde concentrations were above the chronic
(R.. Exposure Level) RELs required by the OEHHA(?) (9 μg/m 3) Wu et al (2011)
0.1 ppm is recommended American Society for Heating, Refrig and Air Conditioing Engineers (ASHRAE),
American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) and EPA limit for mobile homes [Sexton et al 1989]
The toxic effects of formaldehyde exposure can be classified as follows: irritation of mucous membrane,
contact dermatitis, teratogenicity, and carcinogenicity (National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health [NIOSH], 2009).
Toxicology of IAQs, this one would be one of most dangerous.
Which IAQs are group 1 carcinogens?
Asbestos, radon etc
What category are particulates, carbon monoxide etc.
SOURCES IN THE HOME:
2 Main ‘new’ sources from cleaning agents
1) As a biocide [Hahn et al 2010]
2) As a reaction product (secondary pollutant) [Nazaroff, W.W 2004]
Listed here http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/01/990104073541.htm
Singer, B.C.,Coleman, B.K.,Destaillats, H.,Hodgson, A.T., Lunden, M.M., Weschler, C.J., Nazaroff,
W.W.bc (2006) Indoor secondary pollutants from cleaning product and air freshener use in the presence
of ozone. Atmospheric Environment, Volume 40, Issue 35, November 2006, Pages 6696-6710
Recent list of products
http://consumerist.com/2009/03/baby-products-now-with-formaldehyde.html
Hahn, 2010
Formaldehyde releasing agents (Hahn et al 2010) – what the heck is this? Do they mean precursors
Background levels:
Singer BC et al 2006
Formaldehyde production from ozone leads to levels of 0.01 ppm, this is where the background comes from
Example reaction: from EChem notes
CxHyOz + O3 → HCHO
e.g. ethyl acetate, CH3COOCH2CH3
e.g. acetone, (CH3)2CO
e.g. glycol ether, CH3OCH2CH2OH
Morrison, G.C. and W.W. Nazaroff; "Ozone interactions with carpet: secondary emissions of aldehydes."
Environmental Science Technology 36: 2185-2192, 2002.
Weschler, C. J., A. T. Hodgson and J. D. Wooley; "Indoor Chemistry: Ozone, Volatile organic compounds
and carpets." Environmental Science Technology 26: 2371-2377, 1992.
A 4 % increase in formaldehyde levels was pointed out when 8-hour ozone concentrations increased by
20μg/m 3.
Rancière, F.,Dassonville, C.,Roda, C.,Laurent, A.-M.,Le Moullec, Y.,Momas, I. (2011) Contribution of
ozone to airborne aldehyde formation in Paris homes. Science of the Total Environment , Volume 409,
Issue 20, 15 September 2011, Pages 4480-4483
Higher levels of indoor pollutants in airtight homes, ACH-50 < 5. Newer homes tend to be airtight,
remediation choices include removing source of formaldehyde or increasing ventilation.
Check this ref to see if they did this:
Hun, D.E.,Corsi, R.L.,Morandi, M.T.,Siegel, J.A. (2010) Formaldehyde in residences: Long-term indoor
concentrations and influencing factors. Indoor Air, Volume 20, Issue 3, June 2010, Pages 196-203
Campus levels
Weng, M. (2012) Levels and possible sources of formaldehyde in campus ( Conference Paper ). 3rd
international Conference on Manufacturing Science and Engineering, ICMSE 2012;Xiamen;27 March
2012through29 March 2012;Code89075.Advanced Materials Research., Volume 479-481, 2012, Pages
546-549.
New decoration in China: Concentration of formaldehyde was ranging from 0.01 to 0.31 mg/m3
Xue, S.-G. ,Ma, Y.-M.,Li, L.-J.,Huang, Y.-H.,Wang, J. (2011) Investigation of indoor formaldehyde
pollution in newly decorative residences. Tumu Jianzhu yu Huanjing Gongcheng/Journal of Civil,
Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Vol. 33, No. 3, pp.124-128.
40 % of indoor formaldehyde from building materials:
Missia, D.A. ,Demetriou, E.,Michael, N.,Tolis, E.I., and Bartzis, J.G. (2010) Indoor exposure from building
materials: A field study. Atmospheric Environment, Volume 44, Issue 35, November 2010, Pages 43884395
Noncancer effects: Concentrations of FA, both personal and stationary, are on average in the order of
0.05mg/m3 or less in Europe and North America with the exception of new housing or buildings with
extensive wooden surfaces, where the concentration may exceed 0.1mg/m3.
Wolkoff, P. ,Nielsen, G.D. (2010) Non-cancer effects of formaldehyde and relevance for setting an
indoor air guideline (Review ). Environment International, Volume 36, Issue 7, October 2010, Pages 788799.
Cleaning products and air fresheners can produce formaldehyde. UC Berkeley researchers found that chemicals in
pine oils and citrus oils react with ozone in the air, producing formaldehyde. From: ‘Pick Your Poison’ by Rossol, M
Pine and citrus oils can react with ozone from outside AND ozone from ozone generators some people use to
‘purify air’.
http://books.google.com/books?id=C0nLOMfdY_sC&pg=PT94&lpg=PT94&dq=pine+oils+and+citrus+oils+react+
with+ozone+in+the+air&source=bl&ots=z6WS_sK1lf&sig=RB6dL1qA1ViNcqa1ALGd5OtxFOs&hl=en&sa=X&e
i=vH56T6CwAuPo0QHQxP3BQ&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=pine%20oils%20and%20citrus%20oils%20react%20with%20ozone%2
0in%20the%20air&f=false
Full Ref is from 2004
EXPERIMENTAL
DISCUSSION
Levels of formaldehyde in homes exposed to formaldehyde or formaldehyde precursors were found to
be…
This is comparable to the 0.017 ppm levels found by Hun (2011) in 179 homes.
The background indoor/outdoor formaldehyde level is likely to be 0.01 ppm or above due to the oxidation
of formaldehyde precursors. The mean background formaldehyde measured in this study was _____.
Can be removed with activated charcoal filtration and trapping agents [Sekine et al 2011]
Future: measure ozone ppb concentrations with chemiluminescent O3 analyzer concurrently with
formaldehyde.
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