Formaldehyde.

Abstract

In 1979 formaldehyde was projected into the toxicological limelight when Kerns and his group from the American Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology (CIIT) released preliminary results of an inhalation study on male and female rats. Those animals exposed to 14.3 p.p.m. for 8 h/day and 5 days/week for up to 2 years showed the development of squamous cell carcinomas in a high proportion (55 per cent) of the animals. Rats similarly exposed to 5.6 p.p.m. were slightly affected with 0.85 per cent producing tumours. The next 10 years became a frenzy of activity by toxicologists, epidemiologists and industry groups, all striving to answer the question: 'Is formaldehyde a human carcinogen?'. This paper will attempt to examine the extent to which the question has been answered. It will consider how the industry responded to the initial shock finding and review the subsequent accumulation of animal and human data. It will also address the regulatory position and compare the steps taken in different countries to control the risk, and again consider how industry has responded to such regulatory forces. This review will necessarily only be able to cover the main issues and major conclusions as the extent of the subject is enormous. There are, however, a number of comprehensive texts on the subject should more information be required.