Acute Odor and Irritation Response in Healthy Nonsmokers with Formaldehyde Exposure

Abstract

Industrial, commercial, and domestic levels of formaldehyde (HCHO) exposure range from 0.1 to 8 ppm. Irritation of the eyes and upper respiratory tract predominates as undesirable effects. The original research discussed in this article was published in the Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association in 1987. It demonstrated significant (p < .05) dose-response relationships for eye irritation and odor sensation with borderline significance (p = .054) for nose/throat irritation, without observing significant dose-response in pulmonary function. Nineteen subjects were randomly exposed to 0.0, 1.0, 2.0, and 0.5 or 3.0 ppm at rest, plus 2.0 ppm with exercise for 3 hours each. The dose-response relationship showed that the subjective symptoms significantly increased as HCHO concentration increased; however, threshold concentrations for these symptom responses could not be determined. There presently is a need for this information because of current efforts to revise the standards for HCHO exposure. This article reexamines the symptomatic response data in the 1987 paper and, using additional statistical methodology, estimates the threshold levels for odor and irritant responses to HCHO. In addition, the effects of sex (male versus female) on the symptom responses are examined. Estimated thresholds were less than 0.5 ppm HCHO for odor sensation, 0.5–1.0 ppm HCHO for eye irritation, and 1.0 ppm HCHO for nose/throat irritation. No substantial differences were seen between the male and female symptom responses.