A 35% to 40% formaldehyde aqueous solution is commonly known as formalin. It has antiseptic and antiseptic properties and can be used to soak biological specimens and disinfect seeds. However, it is easy to make specimens brittle due to denaturation of proteins.
The main reason that formaldehyde has antiseptic and antiseptic properties is that formaldehyde can react with amino groups on proteins of organisms (including bacteria).
It is inevitable that furniture and adhesives are used in the manufacturing process. Chemicals such as adhesives and paints generally contain formaldehyde. The formaldehyde in the indoor air mainly comes from the decorative materials and artificial wood boards used in the new combination furniture, such as the adhesives in plywood, large core boards, MDF, and flowerboard (particle board). When exposed to heat and deliquescence, formaldehyde is released from the adhesive.
Formaldehyde is added to the vaccine to inactivate it. Formaldehyde is a carcinogen with strong irritation. It can act on both the amino acid-containing nucleotide bases of the virus (such as A, G, U) and the virus coat protein. When acting on the shell protein, the protein is easily cross-linked or the virus particles are aggregated, and it can no longer act on the nucleic acid in the shell protein. In this way, the antigenicity of the pathogen protein will be severely damaged, and the pathogen may survive; the inactivation time with formaldehyde is long, and it usually requires treatment at 37-39 ° C for more than 24 hours or longer.
There are three main sources of formaldehyde in food: "endogenous" production of animals and plants, artificial addition, introduction or contamination during processing.
Formaldehyde is a normal metabolic component in many foods, including fruits, vegetables, livestock and poultry meat, fish, crustaceans, etc. However, most foods have low formaldehyde content and are not harmful to health.
Formaldehyde can be used as a bacteriostatic agent in foods such as
cheese. In Australia and the United States, small amounts of formaldehyde are allowed as feed additives in feed
Formaldehyde pollution in the environment can also cause formaldehyde residues in food. For example, the formaldehyde aqueous solution used in the environment to disinfect facilities, tools, environmental disinfectants or three-dimensional space fumigation disinfectants can cause environmental pollution to varying degrees, thereby contaminating food.
Most formaldehyde detected in cosmetics is not directly added to the formaldehyde itself, but formaldehyde releasers. It mainly kills
microorganisms by slowly releasing a small amount of free formaldehyde in a cosmetic system.