A repost of my Formaldehyde Poisoning thread in the Health & Fitness forum (http://sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=89394) as per LadyMidnight's suggestion.

Main points:

A friend of mine was exposed to formaldehyde (used for fumigation) and suffered the usual symptoms - breathing trouble, throat constriction, etc. This was 12 days ago. Now she has very bad sinus problems and asthma. Does anyone know of similar cases? How long might this last?

(Of course she's seeing a doctor)


The doctor said the asthma is probably permanent. And eye problems too...
Please, does anyone know of similar cases? Can anything be done?

Does anyone have anything to say on this?


She opened a bin which had a container of Formaldehyde inside it (for fumigation)


This is its Material Safety Data Sheet.
http://www.dynamicaqua.com/msds/formaldehyde.pdf


Thanks.

I did find a few documents, but none of them mentioned how long these effects would last. None of them said anything about permanent damage. (That makes me hopeful).


I've never known that to be useful for exterminating .


This was in a microbiology lab.


Weird, I was just researching the harmful effects of formaldehyde and formic acid for another thread.

I still don't know much about it except what you already seem to know. I recommend posting this in the "Chemistry" section. Someone highly proficient in chemistry might be able to answer your question.




This was in a microbiology lab.
From your first post...


A friend of mine was exposed to formaldehyde (used for fumigation)

Is why I thought you were writing about an exterminating form of the chemical.


Yes, it was used for fumigation in a microbiology lab.

http://www.safety.ed.ac.uk/resources/Bio/Guidance/General/Fumigation%20of%20safety%20cabinets%20and%20labora tories.pdf

I posted something in the original thread.

Yes, I posted in that thread as well.
Rosnet. Why don't you open a thread in Human Science?
They might know something.

I posted something in the original thread.

I'll always check that thread as well.


Yes, I posted in that thread as well.
Rosnet. Why don't you open a thread in Human Science?
They might know something.

I guess you deleted whatever you posted? Anyway, erm, would it be okay if I started this same thread in Human Science also? Well, okay, I'll try it, I'm desperate...

Rosnet.

It's really unlikely that anyone here is going to know more than you could find out yourself by googling the subject. It's a pretty obscure field of knowledge.

Even if you found someone here who knew a lot about it, there is not much they could tell you without knowing exactly what the concentration of the gas was, and how long your friend was exposed to it. Plus a lot of other factors.

I wouldn't open another thread.
Anyone who had an interest in the subject would have seen it in the first thread.

I hope she is in good hands.

Bleh, too late, I already started a new thread.

Well yeah, we don't know the concentration, but I'm hoping that someone might be able to guess it from the effects seen so far. Or even post some links to good and detailed documentation on the subject.