EU: Formaldehyde included on substance evaluation list in 2013

On Wednesday 29th February the European Chemicals Agency published the Community Rolling Action Plan (CoRAP), a list of chemical substances to be evaluated over a period of three years in order to determine whether policy measures are needed to adequately manage consumer and worker exposure.

Formaldehyde was included in the Community Rolling Action Plan for substance evaluation in 2013; France and the Netherlands will lead the evaluation of formaldehyde as rapporteur and co-rapporteur, and will have one year to do so. In the spirit of the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH), the formaldehyde industry will cooperate actively with competent authorities in gathering and supplying the necessary information.

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Formaldehyde is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. It's widely used in many industries and causes severe health issues if used inappropriately.

It is highly toxic to humans, regardless of method of intake. Even very short-term exposure to formaldehyde irritates the eyes causing pain, redness, blurred vision and severe eye watering. It can irritate the nose and throat causing sneezing, soreness, coughing, shortness of breath, headaches and nausea.

Exposure to elevated levels can lead to accumulation of fluid in the lung (pulmonary oedema). A large exposure to formaldehyde is converted to formic acid in the body, leading to a rise in blood acidity, rapid-shallow breathing, hypothermia, and coma or death.

Long-term exposure causes chronically impaired lung function, skin hardening, swelling and flaking, dermatitis, allergic eczema, and cancer. 

PPM Technology has significant experience in the design and development of instruments for accurate detection and measurement of Formaldehyde. 

Our Formaldemeter range of instruments has been in existence for over 10 years. We continuously develop and improve the instruments to achieve better performance and features. Our latest instruments are the Formaldemeter htVm and htV. 

 'Overexposure to airborne formaldehyde is dangerous to health, but the risks can be substantially reduced if levels are regularly measured and monitored,'

'Our latest Formaldemeter htv-m model enables continuous monitoring, so staff will be aware when formaldehyde concentrations reach dangerous levels.' said MD John B Jones. 

The Formaldemeter htV-m is able to accurately detect and monitor formaldehyde, temperature and humidity in real-time. It can be used as a manual hand-held instrument or as a continuous monitoring device capable of up to one month of datalogging.

 The Formaldemeter htV is a manual hand-held instrument, which can take instantaneous single-point measurements of Formaldehyde, Temperature and Humidity. Both instruments can accurately measure very low or extremely high concentration of formaldehyde.

PPM Technology’s standard hand held formaldehyde detectors are able to measure in the range of 0-10ppm, it is now possible for the user to change the settings and monitor for much higher concentrations of Formaldehyde up to approximately 90ppm.

Please visit www.ppm-technology.com/products for more information.