Formaldehyde in Household Products: Are You Being Exposed?

You may think that your home is safe and healthy, but there’s a major danger hiding in almost every modern house: formaldehyde. From common personal hygiene items to the construction materials found all over your house, formaldehyde is present in a surprising number of places in most homes. Here’s what you need to know about formaldehyde in household products and the steps you should be taking to protect yourself and your family.

 

  What Household Products Contain Formaldehyde?

 

The most dangerous sources of formaldehyde in household products are common construction materials. Plywood, particleboard and even insulation materials commonly contain formaldehyde. The reason these sources are dangerous is the fact that they are very difficult and expensive to remove from your home, since they can actually be critical to its physical structure. In addition, fiberboard furniture may contain formaldehyde, meaning that not even the furniture you use every day is necessarily safe. Under certain conditions, formaldehyde found in these products can become airborne, allowing it to be inhaled directly into your body.

 

Beyond these structural sources, formaldehyde can sometimes be found in personal hygiene products, including shampoos, body washes and even toothpaste. Often, these products contain preservatives and additives that can give off formaldehyde under the right conditions.

 

  What Can You Do?

 

With so much formaldehyde potentially surrounding you in your home, it’s obvious that you need to take steps to limit your exposure. As a first step, start by trading out some of your mass-produced personal hygiene products for more natural, organic alternatives. Luckily, there are many different brands of all-natural hygiene products on the market today that can help you stay clean and healthy without risking exposure to formaldehyde.

 

Dealing with formaldehyde found in construction materials is quite a bit more tricky. More than likely, you won’t be able to rip out every piece of plywood and particleboard in your house and replace them with formaldehyde-free alternatives. The best solution in lieu of that is to remove free formaldehyde from the air using an air purifier. To tackle formaldehyde, an air purifier needs a carbon filter that will enable it to remove VOCs. Some of the best units for this purpose include:

 

 

Though you may not to be able to remove all of the formaldehyde in household products in your home, you can certainly put a dent in it and control the amount of airborne formaldehyde you are exposed to daily.