Up until a few years ago, I had no idea formaldehyde was commonly used in residential home building. My father, a retired master carpenter said as the world's population grows, so does its need for alternative products that are cheaper, stronger and easier to build with. You'd think a product that kills mold and mildew short term would be a good thing, right?
Most people know that formaldehyde is embalming fluid. It also is used to preserve body parts by hospitals and pathologists.
In addition to its preservation properties, formaldehyde is found to be a powerful and inexpensive resin and bonding agent for glue. This is unfortunate, because industry now uses it extensively in the manufacture of all the artificial wood products used in building a modern American house.
Formaldehyde is a colorless, strong-smelling gas. When present in the air at levels above 0.1 ppm (parts in a million parts of air), it can cause watery eyes, burning sensations in the eyes, nose and throat, nausea, coughing, chest tightness, wheezing, skin rashes, and allergic reactions. It also has been observed to cause cancer in scientific studies using laboratory animals and may cause cancer in humans. Typical exposures to humans are much lower; thus any risk of causing cancer is believed to be small at the level at which humans are exposed.
On the OrganizingLA Blog, we've always tried to highlight products and services that are so-called "eco-friendly." And we'll continue to do so as much as possible.
On the Net:
- Read more about formaldehyde with the Consumer Product Safety Commission
- A volunteer firefighter talks about hidden dangers inside your home
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