Landmark Formaldehyde Regulation Now Under Fire: But How Dangerous Is It?

A decade ago, emergency trailers for victims of Hurricane Katrina caused burning eyes, sore throats, and other serious injuries due to formaldehyde fumes that were leaking into the air of the very structures meant to protect them.

Since the incident, the Environmental Protection Agency has been working on a landmark federal health standard that would increase regulations on how much formaldehyde exposure is okay in everything from our clothing to our homes (Formaldehyde is commonly used as an ingredient in wood glue in furniture and flooring.)

Now, the effort is making news because of pushback on the proposed regulations from furniture makers, various politicians, and even the Chinese government. According toreports, the EPA may relax its proposed regulations as a result, easing key testing requirements before it releases the landmark federal health standard.

No doubt you’ve heard that formaldehyde is bad for your health, but how bad is it, exactly?

Formaldehyde exposure in the air can do everything from make your eyes water to cause cancer, says toxicology expert Bernard Goldstein, M.D., an emeritus professor in the University of Pittsburgh’s department of environmental and occupational health. “It produces a lot of problems in our airways,” he explains to Yahoo Health. “It’s a fierce irritant.”

Formaldehyde’s deadly potential isn’t a secret. It’s been classified as a known human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and as a probable human carcinogen by the EPA, and research has repeatedly found a link between formaldehyde exposure and cancer.

One study published in The American Journal of Cancer Research discovered that formaldehyde increases squamous cell carcinomas in rats. A 2003 study found that formaldehyde exposure may cause leukemia, and anotherstudy published in 2009 found a possible link between formaldehyde exposure and Hodgkin’s lymphoma and multiple myeloma, a cancer that forms in white blood cells.

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