Has anyone ever considered Formaldehyde?

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Has anyone ever considered Formaldehyde? Got me a meter and now I'm paranoid!
It's present in a lot of manufactured timber products - sheet materials especially. It's up to you to assess the hazard. But my own take is that the ventilation of a typical house disperses it sufficiently for me not to worry about it. If your assessment of risk (or your own vulnerability) is different then avoid new sheet manufactured materials - live in an old house with older furniture (formaldehyde out gas takes 19-15 years to disperse). Life is full of hazards of many degrees, it's up to you to judge which are significant to you.
 
Just did some non extraction sanding of Oak and that meter went mental 🥺 especially PM2.5 and PM10 ... The Formaldehyde increased only when the heat built up and burned!! Gasses?
 
I think the wife is going to put my brain in some when I pass. Shouldn't take much more than a prescription bottle I think.

What particle counter/meter did you get?

Pete
 
fun fact: Humans produce about 1.5 ounces of formaldehyde a day as a normal part of our metabolism.

Better leave your human body and become a sentient being, if you are from the east you'll already believe in reincarnation so it's fine.
 
Clearly we should wrap ourselves in cotton wool (organic), and never go near the workshop again as it contains such hazards. We should also never cycle, drive, swim, go upstairs, or climb a ladder........

......or we could get sensible, and read that formaldehyde is only a problem when we breath lots of it over the long term, and unless you work with specific materials in a confined space for a long time you are unlikely to need to even give it a second thought.
 
Formaldehyde is a chemical that is a component in many glues and at one time the foam that used to be used as insulation. Those products will off gas it for a long time to come. One product in the home may not be of concern but because the product is used in so many things like carpet, sheet goods, finishes etc, thats a lot of potential off gassing that adds up especially in a tight house. Some people can get sick from it but others may not have any issues with it, at least in the short term. Accumulative or in combination with other things we encounter might contribute to health problems later. I don't know but if you have a meter and have high readings ventilate and track down where it is coming from and deal with it in an appropriate way. Don't become a slave to it, just use it as an indicator of what is going on around you.

Pete
 

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