EPA Releases Toxicological Review of Formaldehyde
A final toxicological review of formaldehyde conducted by EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program finds that the substance is carcinogenic to humans through the inhalation route of exposure. The report concludes that formaldehyde inhalation can cause nasopharyngeal cancer, sinonasal cancer, and myeloid leukemia, and establishes a reference concentration (RfC) for formaldehyde of 7 µg/m3. EPA defines the RfC as “the level of continuous inhalation exposure to the human population (including sensitive subgroups) that is likely to be without appreciable risk of deleterious effects during a lifetime.”
The International Agency for Research on Cancer and the U.S. National Toxicology Program also classify formaldehyde as a human carcinogen.
According to EPA, the noncancer health effects of formaldehyde exposure include increased sensory irritation and respiratory tract pathology. It is also likely that formaldehyde inhalation causes decreased pulmonary function, increased symptoms of asthma, increased allergic responses, reproductive toxicity in both females and males, and developmental toxicity in females, the report states.
The report calls for further study of potential neurotoxic effects from inhalation of formaldehyde, including the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.
The IRIS toxicological review of formaldehyde and related documents are available from the EPA website.