Formaldehyde is a chemical substance with a pungent odor that is highly soluble in water and occurs naturally in organisms. Formaldehyde, when taken into organisms, is metabolized into formic acid in the liver and erythrocytes and is then excreted, either with the urine and feces or via the respiratory system. Form-aldehyde is widely used in the industrial and medical fields, and employees in t...

It has been reported (1) and confirmed (2) that the production of uroporphyrin III from porphobilinogen, either by heating in acid solution or enzymatically by hemolyzed avian erythrocytes, is accompanied by the formation of formaldehyde from the aminomethyl group of the pyrrole. These observations have been cited as evidence in support of two hypotheses on the mechanism of uroporphyrin III for...

BACKGROUND Exposure to formaldehyde may lead to exacerbation of asthma. OBJECTIVES Our aim in this study was to investigate whether exposure to a low level (500 microg/m(3)) of formaldehyde enhances inhaled allergen responses. METHODS Twelve subjects with intermittent asthma and allergy to pollen were exposed, at rest, in a double-blind crossover study to either formaldehyde or purified air...

BACKGROUND The decoration of interior spaces can lead to dangerous levels of indoor formaldehyde pollution. Exposure to indoor air pollution may be responsible for nearly 2 million deaths per year in developing countries. OBJECTIVES To assess the prevalence of indoor formaldehyde pollution caused by decoration and resultant respiratory system symptoms exhibited in exposed adults and children,...

There are concerns about the health effects of formaldehyde exposure, including carcinogenicity, in light of elevated indoor air levels in new homes and occupational exposures experienced by workers in health care, embalming, manufacturing, and other industries. Epidemiologic studies suggest that formaldehyde exposure is associated with an increased risk of leukemia. However, the biological pla...

The simultaneous removal of formaldehyde and ammonium in aerobic cultures and the inhibitory effect of formaldehyde on ammonium oxidation were investigated. The influence of a co-substrate, methanol, on formaldehyde biodegradation and on the nitrification process was also evaluated. Formaldehyde was completely removed at all concentrations tested (30–3890 mg dm−3) in assays with that compound a...

Formaldehyde is an aliphatic monoaldehyde and is a highly reactive environmental human carcinogen. Whereas humans are continuously exposed to exogenous formaldehyde, this reactive aldehyde is a naturally occurring biological compound that is present in human plasma at concentrations ranging from 13 to 97 micromol/L. It has been well documented that DNA-protein crosslinks (DPC) likely play an im...

BACKGROUND Formaldehyde is an air pollutant present in both indoor and outdoor atmospheres. Because of its ubiquitous nature, it is imperative to understand the mechanisms underlying formaldehyde-induced toxicity and carcinogenicity. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) can influence disease caused by environmental exposures, yet miRNAs are understudied in relation to formaldehyde. Our previous investigation dem...

The phytotoxicity of formaldehyde for spider plants (Chlorophytum comosum L.), tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv Bel B and Bel W3), and soybean (Glycine max L.) cell-suspension cultures was found to be low enough to allow metabolic studies. Spider plant shoots were exposed to 7.1 [mu]L L-1 (8.5 mg m-3) gaseous [14C]-formaldehyde over 24 h. Approximately 88% of the recovered radioactivity ...

In this part of a series of review articles on formaldehyde-releasers and their relationship to formaldehyde contact allergy, formaldehyde-releasers in cosmetics are discussed. In this first part of the article, key data are presented including frequency of sensitization and of their use in cosmetics. In Europe, low frequencies of sensitization have been observed to all releasers: 2-bromo-2-nit...