Tracking this here: https://github.com/publiclab/wherewebreathe/issues/123

Nick will post: Hal levin Critical piece

Formaldehyde is a colorless, flammable gas with a distinct odor. Current common sources of formaldehyde in the home include wood floor finishes, pressed-wood products, wallpaper and paints, and the combustion and oxidation of other hydrocarbons (including cigarettes, oil, natural gas, and emissions from laser printers and photocopiers). The formaldehyde in these products can off-gas into the surrounding environment and be inhaled.

The US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) maintains toxicological profiles for a number of substances, including formaldehyde. The following chart (Figure 1) summarizes the scientific evidence on the health effects of varying concentrations of formaldehyde exposure as most recently updated by ATSDR in 2010. In their home environments, participants in the WWB study are most likely to be exposed at lower levels described in this chart (up to 0.6 ppm, or 600 ppb). This summary suggests that there is strong scientific evidence for formaldehyde having a range of human health effects at these lower levels of exposure: nasal and eye irritation, impaired short-term memory, change in pulmonary function, and exacerbation of asthma or allergies.

Figure 1. Existing evidence, health effects of breathing formaldehyde in humans and in animals. Reproduced from Addendum to the Toxicological Profile for Formaldehyde by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 2010, p. 2. a changes in pulmonary variables from spirometry testing (FEV, FVC) b decreased performance on short-term memory tests c decreased breathing rate and/or increased airway resistance d listlessness, hunched appearance, uncoordinated movement, ataxia e altered serum biochemistry and/or liver histopathology f decreased testicular weight, testicular atrophy, altered sperm motility/morphology, decreased serum testosterone, decreased diameter of seminiferous tubules g decreased motor activity, altered open field behavior, impaired learning and memory

To these symptoms on which scientific consensus already exists, we add a number of candidate symptoms observed at higher levels of formaldehyde exposure (nausea, headaches, throat and skin irritation, cough, respiratory discomfort) and also those symptoms reported to WWB investigator Nick Shapiro during his fieldwork with individuals living in FEMA-distributed trailers after Hurricane Katrina (insomnia, nightmares, digestive trouble, and changes in sense of smell or taste).

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