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  • Title: Health aspects of formaldehyde in the indoor environment. Czech and Slovak experience.
    Author: Holcátová I, Bencko V.
    Journal: Cent Eur J Public Health; 1997 Mar; 5(1):38-42. PubMed ID: 9151006.
    Abstract:
    The effects of formaldehyde on human beings has been a subject of study in the former Czechoslovakia since the beginning of the 1980s. The first studies quite naturally arose from concern over its effects in occupational settings. Initially, the allergic effects of formaldehyde on the skin were studied. Two main approaches to the study of the biologic effects of formaldehyde on humans were employed. The cytogenetic analyses of peripheral lymphocytes and immunological analysis of selected humoral immunity parameters were used to demonstrate the formaldehyde exposure in both occupational and non-occupational indoor environment. The analysis of the results, especially from the non-occupational settings (e.g. school classrooms), was beset with problems with interpretation and lead to suggested maximum acceptable concentration (MAC) values that were unrealistically low, ranging from 0.035 mg.m-3 (whole day mean) and short term-up to 30 minute sampling 0.050 mg.m-3. These rather stringent requirements are fully acceptable for the open air. However, they are difficult to achieve in indoor air settings, and are open to criticism from the point of view of exposure assessment. Because of the problems in interpreting genotoxic and immunological parameters, a risk assessment approach was adopted for this discussion.
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