What is formaldehyde

Generally speaking, a newly renovated house will have a strong pungent smell. Everyone knows that you cannot move into a newly renovated house immediately. You have to wait until the pungent smell in the house has dissipated before you can move in. This is mainly because the paint used to decorate the house contains formaldehyde, which is a chemical substance with a pungent smell.

If you move into a house right after it is renovated, the human body will absorb formaldehyde for a long time. Formaldehyde is a harmful substance that can cause serious damage to the human body. Some patients are directly poisoned by formaldehyde, so it is not suitable for people to live in a house with excessive formaldehyde for a long time.

Formaldehyde is a colorless gas with a strong irritating odor. Soluble in water, alcohol and ether. Formaldehyde is a gas at room temperature and usually appears in the form of an aqueous solution. A 35-40% formaldehyde aqueous solution is called formalin. The aldehyde group in the formaldehyde molecule undergoes condensation reaction to produce phenolic resin (Bakelite). Formaldehyde is a colorless aqueous solution or gas. Has a pungent smell. It can be miscible with water, ethanol, acetone and other organic solvents in any proportion. The liquid tends to become turbid when stored for a long time at a relatively cold temperature, and trioxymethylene precipitates at low temperatures. Some formaldehyde escapes during evaporation, but most of it turns into trioxymethylene. This product is a strong reducing agent, and its reducing power is stronger when it is alkaline in trace amounts. It can be slowly oxidized into formic acid in the air.

The main hazard of formaldehyde is its irritation to the skin and mucous membranes. When formaldehyde reaches a certain concentration indoors, people will feel uncomfortable. Formaldehyde concentration greater than 0.08m3 can cause red eyes, itchy eyes, throat discomfort or pain, hoarseness, sneezing, chest tightness, asthma, dermatitis, etc. Newly renovated rooms have high formaldehyde content, which is the main cause of many diseases.

If it is acute formaldehyde poisoning, the patient will have a strong burning sensation in the throat and skin allergies. Some severe formaldehyde poisoning can directly lead to death, so it is best to wait for a while before moving into a newly renovated house. You can put more green plants in the newly renovated house to help absorb formaldehyde.