Formaldehyde is commonly used in manufacturing wood products.
Nurses, caregivers, medical technicians, workers in the textile, chemistry and metal industries, carpenters and cleaners are exposed to formaldehyde on a regular basis. Exposure to this chemical has been linked to certain cancers, but now a new study says that this may also lead to cognitive problems later on in life.
For the unversed, formaldehyde is a colourless chemical commonly used in manufacturing wood and chemical products, plastics and in other applications. It has a strong pickle-like odour and easily becomes a flammable gas at room temperature.
Study author Noemie Letellier from the University of Montpellier in France has advised people whose work exposes them to formaldehyde to take precautions, while appealing to companies to look at ways to reduce workers' exposure to the hazardous chemical.
The study results were published in the online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
For the study, the researchers looked at 75,322 people in France, out of which 8 percent or 6,026 were exposed to formaldehyde during their working life.
They found that those who were exposed to formaldehyde on the job had, on average, a 17 per cent higher risk of having thinking and memory problems compared to those who were never exposed to the chemical. The risk remains for even low exposure to formaldehyde (low was considered six or fewer years in the study). Similar results were found in every type of cognitive function the researchers tested, including word recall, attention, and reasoning skills.
Further they found a 21 per cent higher risk of global cognitive impairment in those who were exposed to formaldehyde for 22 years or longer. Workers with the highest cumulative exposure to formaldehyde (the total amount of formaldehyde a person is exposed to over their lifetime) had, on average, a 19 per cent greater risk of having cognitive impairment compared to those who had not been exposed to it.
Although the use of formaldehyde has reduced over the last few decades, there are still thousands of people whose work exposes them to the chemical. And the study results suggested that they may face the risk of cognitive impairment later on because of it, Letellier noted.
Industrially produced formaldehyde is most commonly used in building materials such as particleboard, plywood, and other pressed-wood products. The chemical is also used as a fungicide, germicide, and disinfectant, and as a preservative agent in mortuaries and medical laboratories.
According to the US National Cancer Institute (NCI), exposure to formaldehyde primarily occurs when people inhale its gas or vapor from the air or by absorbing liquids containing the chemical through the skin. Tobacco smoke, automobile tailpipe emissions, fuel-burning appliances, such as gas stoves, wood-burning stoves, and kerosene heaters, are other potential sources of exposure to formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is also used as a food preservative. So, you can be exposed to small amounts of formaldehyde by eating foods or drinking liquids containing the chemical.
Previous studies have linked exposure to high levels of formaldehyde to myeloid leukemia and cancers of the paranasal sinuses, nasal cavity, and nasopharynx.
