Urea Formaldehyde
According to ToxNet, formaldehyde is mostly used as a fumigant on animal farms and processing plants. Other uses for formaldehyde include: material preservative, antimicrobial, disinfectant, and specimen preserver. Low level inhalation can cause upper airway irritation and lower airway irritation. Contact with formaldehyde can cause skin reactions and eye irritation. More serious side effects include cancer of the nasopharynx, leukemia, sinonasal cancer, infertility, anemia, and low birth weight infants. Animal studies found that drinking water contaminated with formaldehyde can cause gastrointestinal cancers. Lastly, cells exposed to formaldehyde were found to have gene mutations by direct DNA damage and inhibition of DNA repair mechanisms.
Exposure to formaldehyde can have significant health consequences. While studying anatomy and physiology, I dissected several pigs that were preserved with formaldehyde. The smell would burn my respiratory tract despite there being vents within the laboratory. Hopefully, I did not cause any permanent damage to myself while working in the lab with preserved specimens.
Bleach
Matulonga et al. (2016) found that women who frequently (at least once per week) cleaned with domestic-grade bleach were found to have higher rates of non-allergic adult-onset asthma when compared to non-users. Positive associations were also found between the frequent use of bleach and bronchial hyperresponsiveness, asthma like-symptoms, and chronic cough. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, the financial burden of asthma reached $53 billion (direct and indirect costs) in 2007. It is estimated that this figure has grown significantly since then. Asthma, despite being common, can cause significant harm to individuals and society at large.
This study further proves that cleaning products "approved" for home use may not be as safe as we assume. Careful consideration should be taken when using harsh chemicals in the home environment.
Resources
https://www.toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search2/f?./temp/~gTIS5n:3
https://www.toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search2/f?./temp/~StSKy7:1
http://www.aafa.org/page/cost-of-asthma-on-society.aspx
Hey Elena,
ReplyDeleteI believe these studies truly help enforce the notion that formaldehyde containing products, such as bleach, should not be used, or used to a minimum. Otherwise, there should be a reevaluation on bleach being used in the workplace, where additional protocols may need to be produced to reduce worker exposure to formaldehyde. As someone who was exposed to bleach on a pretty regular basis as a medic, it concerns me that I have been exposed to formaldehyde on several occasions.
Luckily, I found that the water in my county does not contain formaldehyde after module 5 assignment. I hope that you didn’t get damaged when you were working in the lab. After this assignment, we study bout formaldehyde and how dangerous it is. In the future, we will avoid contact with formaldehyde. Also, I realized that I should not just assume the home products are ok to use. In fact, we need to be more strict to choose which product to use when we have children at home. It is not easy to find the product that is perfectly safe, but we can avoid higher level of toxic ingredient at least. Hopefully, I can choose the most safe products after learning from this class.
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