Risk – Formaldehyde Basics

We run the risk of having fewer options when we choose not to understand how chemistry relates to our lives. For after all, "What in the world isn't chemistry?" Unknown

Carbon molecules are the basis for "organic chemistry",

The formaldehyde molecule is one of the most basic carbon compounds, consisting of a single carbon atom bonded to two hydrogen atoms and covalently bonded to a single oxygen atom.

All organic life forms – bacteria, plants, fish, dogs and cats and humans – produce formaldehyde.

The air we breathe contains 1 to 68 parts-per-billion of formaldehyde.

Humans inhale it, exhale it and eat it in fruits and vegetables. In fact, the average person produces about 1.5 ounces of formaldehyde each day as part of normal metabolic processes.

Formaldehyde is normally present in human blood at a low steady-state concentration of approximately 1 to 2 parts-per-million (ppm).

Formaldehyde does not accumulate in the environment or within plants, animals or people, as it quickly breaks down in the body and the atmosphere.

Formaldehyde exists all around us naturally. It degrades in the presence of sunlight to CO₂ and H₂O.

Animals readily metabolize formaldehyde using an enzyme called aldehyde dehydrogenase (ADH).