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  Formaldehyde
is a substance widely employed in the hospital environment as a
sterilizing agent and as disinfectant both of medical material and bed
linen and of environments. Furthermore it is employed as a fixing and
conserving agent in histopathology and in the haemodialysis wards. It is
a gas with a strong irritating smell (its olfactory threshold is in fact
very low, being 0.13 ppm).
Formaldehyde can be absorbed through the respiratory system and in very
small quantities also through the skin. It can cause irritations of
mucous membranes, contact dermatitis (both irritating and allergic) and
bronchial asthma. Furthermore formaldehyde has mutagen and carcinogenic
power (it is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer amongst
substances of "sufficient evidence" of carcinogenic effect for
animals and of "limited evidence" for humans).
For additional information
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