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Table 1 Hazardous effects of formaldehyde [2, 4, 6, 16, 25]

From: Concentration and formation behavior of naturally occurring formaldehyde in foods

Interactions

Possible health hazards

Ingestion

Excessive ingestion can cause

 Severe pain with inflammation, ulceration and necrosis of the mucous membranes lining almost every internal organ

 Nausea

 Vomiting blood

 Diarrhea with bloody stool

 Blood from urine

 Gastrointestinal lesions

 Acidosis

 Vertigo and circulation failure

 Systemic effects include

 Metabolic acidosis

 CNS depression and coma

 Respiratory distress

 Renal failure

 Liver failure

 Cancer and tumor development and

 Irreversible neurotoxicity

Inhalation

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) have characterized formaldehyde as a human carcinogen based on studies of inhalation exposure in humans and laboratory animals. Formaldehyde has been linked to

 Nasopharyngeal cancer

 Gastrointestinal cancer and

 Possible links to brain cancer and leukemia