Formaldehyde Linked to Common Cancers

May 2009

Formaldehyde is found in a range of everyday products, from nail polish to plywood. The chemical has long been associated with rare tumors of the nasopharynx, which includes the back of the throat, but a new workplace study has also linked it to cancers of the blood and lymphatic system, which are far more common.

In the study, scientists from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) followed 25,000 workers for approximately 42 years, estimating each person's exposure to formaldehyde while on the job. Researchers found that workers with the highest exposures were 37 percent more likely to die from any blood or lymphatic cancer, 78 percent more likely to die from myeloid leukemia, and nearly four times more likely to die of Hodgkin lymphoma compared to those with lowest levels. More than 2 million Americans are exposed to formaldehyde in the workplace, according to the study.

Laura Beane Freeman, an NCI scientist, says the study doesn't allow her to estimate the risk of formaldehyde exposure to the general public, but the cancer society's Elizabeth Ward says that the public's exposure to formaldehyde is "ubiquitous." Dangerously high levels of formaldehyde were found in FEMA trailers that house Gulf Coast residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina, and in March, a report from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics found the formaldehyde in more than 80 percent of the bath products and shampoos that they tested.