Formaldehyde is a colorless, flammable gas that can be carcinogenic to humans, and is a common additive to building materials and household products. Formaldehyde is also formed in the environment upon oxidation of a variety of hydrocarbons, including natural gas (methane). Symptoms of exposure to low concentrations of formaldehyde may include headache, nausea, throat and skin irritation, and exacerbated chemical sensitivity. For a quick summary of formaldehyde exposure basics, please see the [ASTDR’s ToxFAQs for Formaldehyde](https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/TF.asp?id=219&tid=39). For much more in-depth information, please see the [ASTDR’s Toxicological Profile for Formaldehyde](https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp.asp?id=220&tid=39). In Public Lab, we’ve been exploring low-cost methods for monitoring airborne concentrations of formaldehyde and low-cost methods for mitigating exposure to it. ### Formaldehyde projects Projects related to formaldehyde monitoring and exposure mitigation can be found on the following wikis. Low-cost monitoring of airborne formaldehyde using colorimetric tubes: https://publiclab.org/wiki/formaldehyde-test-kit Low-cost monitoring of airborne formaldehyde using a passive badge sampler and smartphone app: https://publiclab.org/wiki/smart-form Personal exposure to formaldehyde (and information about exposure): https://publiclab.org/wiki/formaldehyde-exposure Low-cost remediation or airborne formaldehyde: https://publiclab.org/wiki/diy-indoor-air-quality-remediation-kit ### Current formaldehyde research in Public Lab Follow active development on [the tag 'formaldehyde.'](/tag/formaldehyde) You can also [subscribe](/subscriptions) to to the formaldehyde tag to get email updates when a research note, wiki, or question gets tagged as related to formaldehyde. **** ### Questions in Public Lab related to formaldehyde [questions:formaldehyde] **** ### Activities to try in Public Lab related to formaldehyde [activities:formaldehyde] **** ...
| Author | Comment | Last activity | Moderation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| danbeavers | "Answering my own question: "The KITAGAWA air sampling pump reproducibly draws 100cc of sample air" So that would be 90 pump cycles thus makiing i..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| danbeavers | "Mathew: Perhaps I am not understanding some objectives here. Is the idea to be able to use one of our measurements in court? I doubt that that i..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| nshapiro | "I think this looks great! The air intake is in one end of the tube. so we could have one less inlet to cut in the top panel and we could have it s..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| mathew | "I'm trying to think about how everything might go together for shipping-- I'd like to put the monitor in a plastic suitcase with a top panel cut to..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| mathew | "@Danbeavers If you ream it you're right-- I was thinking about just a drill hole and that note. Vibrations on either a cheap drill or a poorly secu..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| nshapiro | "+1 to the time relay delay it could be adhered to the belly of the pump. Digging the flow meter debate! " | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| danbeavers | "Mathew: Why would you doubt the accuracy of a stepped bore? A reamer will provide very accurate hole size and ball bearings have very accurate di..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| mathew | "@danbeavers hmm... the variability in the break and its effect on flow could be quantified with a more accurate flow meter. I wonder how variable ..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| danbeavers | "Another approach to this problem would be essentially what Drager does. We could construct a manual vacuum pump. It would essentially be like a b..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| danbeavers | "Thanks Nate for posting my thoughts. I wanted to comment on Mathew's idea of calibrating the pump before shipment. I assume what is meant is that..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| nshapiro | "@danbeavers just sent me a great email about cheap flow meters. he told me I could repost it, so am putting it here: "I have been thinking/researc..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| nshapiro | "Gotcha. In my testing in 2011 i did some of the test and mailed test kits to those i couldn't meet in person. altho it wasn't statistically signifi..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| mathew | "The vintage timers are probably far too massive. I'm not as worried about tampering as I am about good faith forgetfulness-- I don't always hear t..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| nshapiro | "This is great. The vintage timers are pretty amazing although they add a lot of weight and thus money and are not tamper proof. We could just inclu..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| nshapiro | "Great. I've ordered the last two as they have the accuracy we need--will report back by the end of the week. way cheaper than the one i had found. ..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| warren | "double sided foam tape, maybe? any formaldehyde concerns in the tape itself? " | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| mathew | "we can put double sided tape down on the spot-- they remove the cover and stick the tube down. we already have a ton of 1/8" double sided tape. " | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| mathew | "following up on our discussion about trying to calibrate the pump without the flow meter-- could we calibrate the pump at our office, and then have..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| warren | "The tube ought to be taped to the card, I think, so you don't mix it up if you are storing the cards and tubes together. +1 compactness for varyin..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| nshapiro | "It looks like most of the cheap hygrometers are of the coil and dial variety which I worry about the robustness of. This one is temp and humidity ..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| warren | "Yes, maybe ask Shannon about the budget. The QR code just points at wherewebreathe.org/qr - we can hook that up later to redirect anywhere we like...." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| eustatic | "cool " | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| nshapiro | "This looks! great! what do you think the QR code would be? We might need there to be a solid color that the tube is placed on top of for consistenc..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| warren | "I think the card could be folded in half, print outward, so the stuff pushes it flat onto the table. Here's a draft, but I do think we could make ..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago |