Formaldehyde
By: Myriah Rickers
Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde is a colorless, pungent, irritating gas used as a disinfectant, and preservative in chemical synthesis.
How to Prevent Exposure to Formaldehyde
Make sure no one is smoking in your home, formaldehyde is often found in cigarettes and when you smoke inside, or near the home, it gets into the house and has bad effects on the people inside the home. Formaldehyde is found more inside than outside, so it is important to always be ventilating your home to make sure the build up doesn't make you sick.
Being an Advocate
It is important that people know that some of the most commonly used things have formaldehyde in them, for example, fire places, chimneys, lumber, and cigarettes. In order to be an advocate for formaldehyde, you could remind people that it is important to not be smoking in homes, and to make sure they clean out there homes and chimneys regularly to prevent high levels of formaldehyde being in their home.
Reusing and Recycling
When using lumber, you always want to try to use the oldest lumber first, after awhile, the levels of formaldehyde in the lumber goes down due to the exposure to air. If you have to do a project, always make sure you are getting a older load of lumber, rather than the fresher loads to prevent high levels of formaldehyde from being wherever you may be building. When you are done using this lumber, you always want to keep the left overs, or return them to a local store that has lumber like what you have, they keep the lumber that has been used due to the fact that the levels of formaldehyde have gone down in the lumber since it was first delivered to the stores, and it is now more safe to use.
Health Effects
Formaldehyde may cause irritation of the skin, eyes, nose, and throat. High levels of exposure may even cause certain types of cancers. When formaldehyde is present in the air exceeding levels of 0.1 ppm, people may experience symptoms like watery eyes, burning sensations, nausea, coughing, and wheezing.