4 ms·

EPA Report Finds That Formaldehyde Presents "Unreasonable Risk" to Public Health

7 points by Jimmc414 2y ago

Jimmc414 2y ago
"When Trump first assumed office in 2017, the agency was preparing to publish a report on the toxicity of the chemical. But one of his EPA appointees, who was given a high-ranking role in the agency's Office of Research and Development, was a chemical engineer who had worked to fend off the regulation of formaldehyde as an employee of Koch Industries, whose subsidiary made formaldehyde and many products that emit it. The report was not released until August 2024, long after Trump's appointee left the agency."
- metalman 2y ago
  If you dig deeper, you will find that a large number of chemicals and products, started off as byproducts of primary production of one thing or another. Finding and establishing new markets for what was waste, has proven to be rather profitable and the motivation to protect those profitable substances from scrutiny is huge, and here we are with any number of poisons and toxins maintaining legal status, many decades after they were known to be harmfull. The biggest hope for the general public, is that modern chemical knowledge and technical capacity is allowing for further processing many "feed stocks" into less harmfull, and more profitable substances. Which is why you see "sunseting" or grace periods, that protect the current profits untill the new industtry can scale up.
evanjrowley 2y ago
About one year ago, my level of concern over Formaldehyde exposure went from "never thinks about it" to "disturbing thoughts" after an unusual incident. It happened after I bought an air quality sensor to monitor CO2 levels in the basement. It had other measures too, but they were of secondary importance to me - that is, until... One night I was in this basement room having some leftover fried rice when I happened to glance at this air quality meter. It's formaldehyde readings were normally zero, but suddenly they were reading very high. I was astonished. Attempting to try and figure out what was causing this, I noticed the formaldehyde levels were affected by how close the meter was to the fried rice dish. This fried rice came from a local restaurant that's quality has always seemed good. This particular fried rice was Cantonese style salted fish fried rice[0]. The fish in this case is salted, aged, and a little fermented[1]. It's definitely an acquired taste that me and a handful of people in my life really enjoy. After some googling I found a few stories about how this type of salted fish had been found to contain formaldehyde[2][3][4]. Apparently the additive helps the meat firm up into a more rubbery texture, which is something I did notice about this particular fish chunks in this rice dish. Ever since then, I have not returned to this restaurant and I don't order that item off menus anymore. [0] https://10best.usatoday.com/interests/food-culture/why-salted-fish-fried-rice-has-a-cult-following-in-hong-kong/ https://10best.usatoday.com/interests/food-culture/why-salte... [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK304384/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK304384/ [2] https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/09/formaldehyde-detected-in-supermarket-fish-imported-from-asia/ https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/09/formaldehyde-detected... [3] https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/food/is-formalin-present-in-your-fish-heres-how-to-buy-unadulterated-seafood/article24431555.ece https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/food/is-formalin-pre... [4] https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/food/is-formalin-present-in-your-fish-heres-how-to-buy-unadulterated-seafood/article24431555.ece https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/food/is-formalin-pre...
- Jimmc414 2y ago
  Would you mind referencing the model of the air quality monitoring system? Thanks for the detailed write up!
  - evanjrowley 2y ago
    PERFORMANCE GURU Air Quality Monitor https://a.co/d/eYkVQVd https://a.co/d/eYkVQVd I don't know who the OEM is, but I see it being sold by a handful of different brands.

7 points by Jimmc414 2y ago

"When Trump first assumed office in 2017, the agency was preparing to publish a report on the toxicity of the chemical. But one of his EPA appointees, who was given a high-ranking role in the agency's Office of Research and Development, was a chemical engineer who had worked to fend off the regulation of formaldehyde as an employee of Koch Industries, whose subsidiary made formaldehyde and many products that emit it. The report was not released until August 2024, long after Trump's appointee left the agency."

metalman 2y ago
If you dig deeper, you will find that a large number of chemicals and products, started off as byproducts of primary production of one thing or another. Finding and establishing new markets for what was waste, has proven to be rather profitable and the motivation to protect those profitable substances from scrutiny is huge, and here we are with any number of poisons and toxins maintaining legal status, many decades after they were known to be harmfull. The biggest hope for the general public, is that modern chemical knowledge and technical capacity is allowing for further processing many "feed stocks" into less harmfull, and more profitable substances. Which is why you see "sunseting" or grace periods, that protect the current profits untill the new industtry can scale up.

evanjrowley 2y ago

About one year ago, my level of concern over Formaldehyde exposure went from "never thinks about it" to "disturbing thoughts" after an unusual incident. It happened after I bought an air quality sensor to monitor CO2 levels in the basement. It had other measures too, but they were of secondary importance to me - that is, until... One night I was in this basement room having some leftover fried rice when I happened to glance at this air quality meter. It's formaldehyde readings were normally zero, but suddenly they were reading very high. I was astonished. Attempting to try and figure out what was causing this, I noticed the formaldehyde levels were affected by how close the meter was to the fried rice dish. This fried rice came from a local restaurant that's quality has always seemed good. This particular fried rice was Cantonese style salted fish fried rice[0]. The fish in this case is salted, aged, and a little fermented[1]. It's definitely an acquired taste that me and a handful of people in my life really enjoy. After some googling I found a few stories about how this type of salted fish had been found to contain formaldehyde[2][3][4]. Apparently the additive helps the meat firm up into a more rubbery texture, which is something I did notice about this particular fish chunks in this rice dish. Ever since then, I have not returned to this restaurant and I don't order that item off menus anymore. [0] https://10best.usatoday.com/interests/food-culture/why-salted-fish-fried-rice-has-a-cult-following-in-hong-kong/ https://10best.usatoday.com/interests/food-culture/why-salte... [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK304384/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK304384/ [2] https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/09/formaldehyde-detected-in-supermarket-fish-imported-from-asia/ https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/09/formaldehyde-detected... [3] https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/food/is-formalin-present-in-your-fish-heres-how-to-buy-unadulterated-seafood/article24431555.ece https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/food/is-formalin-pre... [4] https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/food/is-formalin-present-in-your-fish-heres-how-to-buy-unadulterated-seafood/article24431555.ece https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/food/is-formalin-pre...

Jimmc414 2y ago
Would you mind referencing the model of the air quality monitoring system? Thanks for the detailed write up!
- evanjrowley 2y ago
  PERFORMANCE GURU Air Quality Monitor https://a.co/d/eYkVQVd https://a.co/d/eYkVQVd I don't know who the OEM is, but I see it being sold by a handful of different brands.