EPA’s Toxic Proposal: Formaldehyde Limits Almost Double

Tell the EPA: Stop Toxic Exposure – Ban Formaldehyde

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to nearly double the amount of formaldehyde it considers safe to inhale by adopting a new exposure threshold.

That new car smell? It’s actually the off-gassing of toxins, primarily formaldehyde.

Formaldehyde isn’t just in car interiors. It’s used as a preservative and adhesive in just about every consumer product you can think of, from furniture, flooring, and carpets, to clothing, children’s toys, vaccines, cigarettes, air fresheners, cleaning supplies, hair and nail products, cosmetics, pesticides, and fertilizers.

You can also be exposed to formaldehyde from candles, gas stoves, and fireplaces, and, of course, workplaces where formaldehyde is used in manufacturing and their surrounding communities are top formaldehyde hotspots.

Ban Formaldehyde, the #1 Carcinogenic Air Pollutant

Formaldehyde causes more cancers than any other toxic air pollutant. It’s also implicated in allergic reactions, asthma, miscarriage, and birth defects.

There is no safe level of exposure to formaldehyde, but Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to call dangerous levels "safe."

Scientists have never found a safe level of exposure to formaldehyde. Now Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency wants to call dangerous levels “safe.” Trump put Nancy Beck and Lynn Dekleva of the American Chemistry Council in charge of chemical safety at the EPA. They used to lobby the EPA on behalf of formaldehyde producers like Merck. Now they make the rules.

More Exposures

One of the most dangerous routes of exposure is formaldehyde hair relaxing products popularized in looks like the Brazilian blowout and keratin hair treatments. Using formaldehyde-containing hair treatments more than twice a year or for more than five years increases uterine cancer risk by 50 percent.

Formaldehyde-releasing ingredients are ubiquitous in personal care products. The formaldehyde-releasing preservative DMDM (dimethyl-dimethyl) hydantoin causes hair loss and is found in shampoos, conditioners, curl creams, and hair oils!

Formaldehyde is no longer used as a food preservative, but the sweetener aspartame breaks down into formaldehyde when digested and formaldehyde is used in the poultry industry to disinfect eggs prior to hatching.

You can also be exposed to formaldehyde from candles, gas stoves, and fireplaces, and, of course, workplaces where formaldehyde is used in manufacturing and their surrounding communities are top formaldehyde hotspots.

Formaldehyde is used in pesticides and fertilizers, and can be taken up by plants. Genetically modified soy and corn has been found to have more formaldehyde than non-GMO. This is likely because genetic engineering disrupts the plant’s metabolism and dramatically depletes the detoxifying antioxidant glutathione.