RISK ASSESSMENT OF FORMALDEHYDE

In April 1987, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the '' Assessment of Health Risks to garment Workers and Certain Home Residen ts from Exposure to Formaldehyde'' in which formaldehyde was classifie d as a carcinogen and an irritant to the eyes and respiratory tract. A quantitative risk assessment for cancer was presented. A more current document, a draft released in 1991, incorporates some additional data on the epidemiology and toxicology of formaldehyde that the EPA has r eceived since completion of the earlier assessment, and examines the i mpact of this information on the estimates of health risks following e xposure to airborne formaldehyde. For noncancer effects, the new data support earlier conclusions with regard to the irritant effects of for maldehyde and the dose-response gradient for these effects. The cancer assessment incorporates the use of a molecular dosimeter for the deri vation of risk estimates. Tissue levels of this dosimeter, a covalent cross-link product of formaldehyde and DNA-protein (DPX), are availabl e from rats and monkeys. The risk estimates obtained with this dosimet er are considerably lower than those obtained by conventional approach es.