The Toxic Effects of Urea Formaldehyde and Bleach

Urea formaldehyde is a chemical that quickly breaks down into two components; urea and formaldehyde. While urea naturally exits and is produced in the human body, formaldehyde is not and is quite toxic. It is a colorless, flammable gas with a strong odor. A common way that formaldehyde enters the home environment is from foam insulation and building materials. It can enter the indoor air environment putting humans at risk. Americans are shown to spend 90% of their lives indoors, so indoor air quality is an important aspect of environmental health.


Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen and has shown to grown cancerous tumor in the respiratory systems of rats. Symptoms of formaldehyde toxic exposure include irritation of the eyes,                skin, nose, throat, eye damage, lightheadedness, and dizziness.




Bleach is comprised of a variety of different chemicals of varying toxicity depending on the type of bleach used. To list a few, bleach can be sodium peroxide, calcium hypochlorite, or sodium hypochlorite. Sodium hypochlorite is found in the common brand, Clorox, so I will focus on the toxic effects of this bleach. Symptoms of toxic exposure to sodium hypochlorite include irritation of the lungs, thorax, respiration tract, nausea, vomiting, and skin corrosion. If ingested, it can be fatal by causing esophageal perforation and/or acidosis.  Among women, toxic symptoms have shown to cause depressed activity and lower BP.

Comments

  1. MonicaMarquezUSFSeptember 18, 2018 at 5:27 PM

    I had no idea that most Americans spend 90% indoors- that is fascinating! But also goes to show how important it is to protect the air quality so that when people are outside, they are exposed to as little chemicals as possible. Also, it also brings to light that because of the fact that people spend so much time indoors, it is important to address the toxic chemicals that are found in everyday household items to further protect the health of the greater community.

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