"The vegetables you love to eat are soaked in formaldehyde to keep them fresh"? !

Have you ever seen such an article circulating in your "loving family" group:

In order to preserve freshness, unscrupulous merchants soak baby cabbages in formaldehyde. Baby cabbages are no longer edible!

There are many versions of the story, some say spinach was contaminated, some say Chinese cabbage was affected, and some say even Chinese cabbage was not spared. It seems that many vegetables are at risk of being contaminated by formaldehyde.

Is this really the case?

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1

Formaldehyde preservation? Not cost-effective

Formaldehyde aqueous solution is what we commonly call formalin .

It has the functions of preservation, disinfection and bleaching, and its most well-known use is to make specimens. So, it seems reasonable to use it to soak vegetables for preservation - if you don't consider the cost.

Nowadays, it is a common practice for merchants to spray disinfectants and fungicides to keep vegetables fresh during transportation. Commonly used broad-spectrum fungicides, such as prochloraz, are not particularly expensive. However, merchants use formaldehyde solution instead of fungicides, which is illegal, economically unsatisfactory, and poses health risks. It is not a cost-effective choice .

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In addition, in order to achieve its preservative effect, formaldehyde must be in a relatively high concentration, which will have a noticeable pungent smell and easily expose the truth.

Therefore, consumers can rest assured when purchasing vegetables through regular channels.

2

Are you afraid of formaldehyde? That’s an exaggeration

There is no doubt that formaldehyde is harmful to the human body. It is listed as a Class 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) under the World Health Organization.

When a person inhales or swallows a large amount of formaldehyde, it will be converted into formic acid/formate, and then into carbon dioxide, which will be excreted from the body through breathing. When excessive formaldehyde accumulates in the body, the enzymes in the body cannot process it, and the formaldehyde may cause proteins to change their properties or lose their activity, thus causing disease.

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**However, the disease-causing effect of formaldehyde is related to its concentration. **Studies have shown that people will only feel obvious sensory stimulation when the formaldehyde concentration is higher than 1 mg/m3, which is 10 times the national standard.

Moreover, we actually live in an "encirclement" of formaldehyde, which can be found everywhere in human society , even everywhere:

Cooking at home, frying, stir-frying, and deep-frying will produce formaldehyde;

The adhesives used in the furniture at home contain formaldehyde;

Cleaners and disinfectants used in the home produce formaldehyde when oxidized;

Even smoking and car exhaust contain formaldehyde.

Formaldehyde is also produced in the human body as each cell metabolizes.

So much formaldehyde may sound scary, but don't worry, the concentration of formaldehyde we encounter in daily life is basically within the range that the body can handle, so there is no need to panic.

3

The enemy of decoration - formaldehyde?

For a long time, news such as "living in a new home and getting cancer" has often appeared in newspapers. Many people are worried when decorating their new homes, fearing that the indoor formaldehyde level will exceed the standard. When choosing decoration materials, they tend to choose "0 formaldehyde" products.

But in fact, the harm of formaldehyde has been magnified invisibly. Many studies have shown that living in a newly renovated house has no clear correlation with the risk of cancer among residents . Moreover, the so-called "0 formaldehyde" products do not really have no formaldehyde at all, but the formaldehyde concentration is lower than a certain standard.

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The strong odor we smell in a newly renovated room may not be formaldehyde .

According to the World Health Organization's "Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality:

According to the "Selective Pollutants", the main indoor pollutants, in addition to formaldehyde, include benzene, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, naphthalene, nitrogen dioxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, radon, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, etc. Most of them have obvious odors, and they may be the culprits of the residents' illness.

4

How to eliminate formaldehyde?

Whether it is buying groceries or decorating, after all, it is something harmful to the body. Of course, it would be best to eliminate formaldehyde in the daily living environment.

However, before removing formaldehyde, a more thorough method should be to choose regular merchants and products , and avoid purchasing building materials with excessive formaldehyde, or fruits and vegetables with excessive formaldehyde, etc.

Formaldehyde is also produced in daily cooking, using disinfectants, smoking, etc. At this time, you should pay attention to healthy living habits, not smoking, eating less fried foods, and pay attention to indoor ventilation when using disinfectants or washing fruits and vegetables .

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There are four principles for removing formaldehyde in daily life: high temperature, high humidity, long time, and frequent ventilation . Formaldehyde gas is volatile and soluble in water. High temperature and high humidity environment is conducive to the rapid departure of formaldehyde. Long time and frequent ventilation utilizes air flow to reduce the indoor formaldehyde concentration.

In summary, if you want to get rid of formaldehyde quickly, you need to keep the house ventilated. If conditions permit, wait for a summer before moving in, and you can basically stay away from the harm of formaldehyde.

Author: The Nutcracker Studio

Review: Zhong Kai

References:

[1] Formaldehyde (CH2O) Concentrations in the Blood of Humans and Fischer-344 Rats Exposed to CH2O Under Controlled Conditions. doi.org/10.1080/15298668591394275

[2] Hygienic standards for formaldehyde in indoor air.

http://std.samr.gov.cn/gb/search/gbDetailed?id=71F772D7AAAAD3A7E05397BE0A0AB82A

[3] WHO guidelines for indoor air quality: selected pollutants.

https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789289002134

[4] Du Lijie, Yu Boqi. Factors affecting formaldehyde concentration in newly renovated indoor air and removal effect of formaldehyde scavengers[J]. Journal of Hebei University: Natural Science Edition, 2021(3):273-277.

[5] Gao Lianping. Detection and prevention strategies of formaldehyde pollutants in indoor decoration materials[J]. Household Industry, 2021(4):58-59.

[6] Hu Bo, Liu Bing. Analysis of the source of formaldehyde in decorative materials[J]. New Materials and New Decoration, 2021(9):35-36.

Author: The Nutcracker Studio

Source: Science Popularization China-Starry Sky Cultivation Program

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