F for Formaldehyde Facts

I've never been into chemistry, but since I've been diagnosed with a formaldehyde allergy I've been hoovering up facts about formaldehyde. Here's my top ten pieces of trivia:

1. It's a colourless, gas with a strong pungent odour.

2. Formaldehyde was first commercially used in embalming fluid and as a preservative for laboratory specimens. More recently Damian Hirst has used formaldehyde with stunning effect to create artwork with preserved animals.

3. The most common sources today are vehicle exhausts and industrial emissions. It's also found in cigarette smoke.

4. It's one of the most widely used organic compounds - in products from plywood and paint to paper products and mouthwash - which is why avoiding it is so difficult.

5. Animal waste is among the most common source of formaldehyde; even humans produce a small amount in their bodies during metabolism but it's removed from the body before it accumulates in the body.

6. Formaldehyde also occurs naturally in certain foods such as coffee (especially instant coffee), dried bean curd, cod fish, caviar, maple syrup and smoked ham. It's particularly high in shiitake mushrooms and peking duck. I can't find any information on whether people who are allergic to formaldehyde should avoid any of these.

7. Formaldehyde is on of the twenty allergens tested on the standard Patch Test (which hospitals use to test people for contact allergies).

8. From large-scale studies, it appears that women are affected 1.2 – 1.5 times more frequently by formaldehyde allergy than men.

9. The frequency of contact allergy to formaldehyde is consistently higher in the USA than in Europe. In Europe, 2 – 3% of patients suspected of contact dermatitis have positive patch test reactions, compared to 8–9% in the USA.

10. Formaldehyde allergy can cause allergic contact dermatitis. A reaction usually doesn't appears until a day or two after exposure to the allergen - no wonder I found it impossible to self-diagnose the cause of my allergy! After the allergen has been removed it can take weeks for the reaction to completely stop. I was fascinated by the fact that, after I had my patch testing, the spot where the formaldehyde had been remained raised and red for well over two weeks after the patch had been removed.

Picture credit: "London Cab" by Mantas Ruzveltas/ Picture credit: "Shiitake Mushroom" by Jomphong

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F for Formaldehyde-free products

In terms of products, as formaldehyde isn't listed as an ingredient, one solution is to contact the manufacturers direct. I've started compiling information on products that seem to be formaldehyde free. It means quite a bit of detective work, but it's worth it! Do you use any formaldehyde-free products which you can add to the lists below?

In many cases formaldehyde is used as a preservative to inhibit the growth of bacteria and fungi in the products. I did not test positive for the formaldehyde-releasing preservatives but I'm planning to avoid then anyway to be on the safe side. Look out for the following names on ingredients lists:

• Quaternium-15
• 2-bromo-2nitropropane-1,3-diol
• imidazolidinyl urea
• diazolidinyl urea

Paper products - kitchen roll, loo roll, tissues.

Formaldehyde is added to household paper products, such as facial tissues, table napkins, kitchen roll and loo roll. It's added to improve to improve its tensile strength, water resistance, grease resistance and shrink resistance. I used to use a lot of tissues, including to dab my eyes, which is something I think brought on my eye eczema. I now use cotton handkerchieves and cotton table napkins, but I still need loo roll! I've found a number of paper products which the manufactures assure me are formaldehyde-free.

- Kitchen roll - Ecoleaf jumbo recycled kitchen roll (stockists include Ethical Superstore).

- Loo roll - Ecoleaf toilet tissue (stockists include Ethical Superstore).

- Sanitary ware - The Natracare range (Essentials London).

- Paper - as far as I can tell you can't buy writing paper that's formaldhyde-free. It's been a great excuse to buy a ipad - so I can read my newspaper from it, write notes, read books on it etc. But I love paper - I used to love making hand-made greeting cards - and I want to sit and read books to my daughter, do painting and such like. If you know of any formaldehyde-free paper or any that have low content do share the details.

Cosmetics and toiletries

Formaldehyde and formaldehyde releasers can be found in many cosmetics and toiletries including fingernail polishers and hardeners, antiperspirants, makeup, bubble bath, bath oils, shampoos, creams, mouthwashes and deodorants.

Cosmetics. For me this has meant finding one or two brands that I find safe and then sticking to them. No trying exotic-looking bubble baths when staying in hotels! I've always used Clinique products as I've never had a reaction to their products (apart from some of their sun and self-tan range). I've contacted Clinique to ask for confirmation of whether any of their products contain formaldehyde, to be 100% sure, but am still waiting to hear back. This link to an advice sheet from a UK hospital lists a number of random, individual products, which they believe to be formaldedhye-free.

Shampoo. I used to find that some shampoos would exacerbate my hand eczema making it unbelievably itchy and sore, including on my palms. I've started used Liz Earle Botanical Shine shampoo and conditioner which doesn't leave my hair as bouncy as some products I used to use but which works well enough for me to recommend it (UK site, USA site). It's not cheap but when I find a product that doesn't make my skin flare up I tend to stick with it.

Nail Varnish. It's all about 3 Free and 5 Free. 3 free nail varnishes are free from Dibutyl Phthalate, Toluene, and Formaldehyde. 5 free are free from Dibutyl Phthalate, Toluene, Formaldehyde, Formaldehyde Resin, and Camphor. Goddess Huntress is a great website which lists brands you can safely buy.

Clothes

Yep, formaldehyde is even put in clothes! Some fabrics are treated with formaldehyde resins and in which some free formaldehyde remains. Formaldehyde resins provide the unique qualities of the following fabrics:

• Permanent press
• Anti-cling, anti-static, anti-wrinkle and anti-shrink finishes
• Chlorine-resistant finishes
• Stiffening on lightweight nylon knits
• Waterproof finishes
• Perspiration proof finishes
• Moth proof and mildew resistant finishes
• Suede and chamois

We're advised to wear clothing made of 100% cotton, silk, polyester, nylon or acrylic; these fabrics generally contain less formaldehyde and are usually well tolerated by sensitive individuals. Avoid all clothing made with fabrics that have been treated with formaldehyde (see above). And no dry cleaning your clothes! We're advised to machine wash all new clothing and bedding in hot, soapy water several times before use. Yet it can take a longer: I bought a dressing gown from Marks & Spencer recently, which left me with eczema around my neck and wrists, even after I'd washed it half a dozen times; frustrating as while the formaldehyde levels are reducing so is it's fluffiness! In this vein, here's an interesting article with case studies on women with formaldehyde allergy and how they deal with new clothes; one women even gets second hand clothes from friends to ensure the formaldehyde levels are low.

Disclaimer: all products listed on this page are believed to be formaldehyde-free at time of posting. Product ingredients can change, always check.

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M for My formaldehyde allergy

Until this week I thought formaldehyde was just what Damian Hirst used to pickle dead animals before he put them in art galleries. I took my one-year-old to see an exhibition of his at the Tate Modern last year, and it was rather fun: dissected cows and sheep embalmed in great glass cases, fascinating and rather beautiful.

I didn't realise then that I was allergic to formaldehyde. And that it's a chemical that seems to be in everything. Earlier this month, I went for patch testing at a central London hospital to find the cause of my chronic eczema and the results came back positive for formaldehyde. At first I was a bit non-plussed. I was expecting it to be nickel. Or the fragrances in my cosmetics. Formaldehyde is a chemical I knew very little about.

But as I was given my one-page fact sheet which said, 'you have a contact allergy to formaldehyde' and listed out the things which may contain formaldehyde, I realised that the only way to avoid it would be to move to a tropical island and sleep in a hammock. And not light a fire (they give off formaldehyde).

Formaldehyde is put in some (but not all) toilet tissues, cosmetics, cleaning products, mattresses, sofas, treated leather, plywood, dry cleaning (I could go on) and is emitted through tobacco smoke, wood smoke, and exhaust fumes among others. To avoid the car fumes I could move out of the big city, and into the country, except I get bad hay fever – and that’s another story.


Before I had fully read the one-pager I was breezily discharged to find my own way.

To be honest, my over-riding emotion was one of relief, almost elation, to have found a cause of my eczema. Having spent years not knowing why my eczema was so bad and getting worse, now at least I could do something to stop it. I felt a huge weight had been lifted from me.

However, I soon realised it wouldn't be that simple. If you're allergic to nuts you make it your business to avoid them - I've done that my entire life, and by checking packaging and choosing restaurants carefully, with practice I have found that while I need to be ever-vigilant it's relatively straightforward. Formaldehyde on the other hand doesn't seem to be so easy to identify. Turns out it's in a staggering number of things, as it's a colourless chemical it's hard to detect, and as it's often used as a preservative rather than an ingredient there's no onus for manufacturers to list it on the side of products.

There are a number of formaldehde-releasers which slowly release formaldehyde over time. I was patch tested for these too and they came up negative. However, some material I've read online says it's not known whether people who are allergic to formaldehyde should also avoid these. These chemicals are in a lot of beauty products so avoiding them all can be a challenge. But I'm so keen to eliminate my eczema that I'm willing to give it a go just in case.

This is the start of my formaldehyde-free journey!

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