DCSIMG

Indicator Profile of Formaldehyde in Outdoor Air

Why Is This Important?

Formaldehyde, a colorless, pungent-smelling gas, is a chemical used widely to make building materials and numerous household products. It is formed in tobacco smoke, wood smoke and automobile exhaust. In outdoor air, formaldehyde is produced in the atmosphere through chemical reactions between other pollutants and sunlight.

Exposure to elevated levels of formaldehyde in air can cause watery eyes, burning sensations in the eyes and throat, nausea, difficulty in breathing, and asthma attacks. Formaldehyde is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as carcinogenic to humans. Exposure may increase the risk of nasal cancers.

Formaldehyde Concentrations in Outdoor Air, by New Jersey County, NATA 2005

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View Data For This Graph




Data Notes

Data Source: National-scale Air Toxics Assessment (NATA), 2005 and NJDEP Division of Air Quality 

Data Sources

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); 

Other Graphical Views


Definition

Mean of modeled annual average formaldehyde concentration for census tracts in a county, NATA 2005

How We Calculated the Rates

Numerator: Modeled mean formaldehyde concentration in micrograms per cubic meter
Denominator: N/A

Page Content Updated On 05/16/12, Published on 05/17/12
Environmental Public Health Tracking Project, New Jersey Department of Health, PO Box 369, Trenton, NJ 08625-0369, Phone: 609-826-4984, e-mail: nj.epht@doh.state.nj.us, Web: www.nj.gov/health/epht
The information provided above is from the New Jersey Department of Health's NJSHAD Web site (http://nj.gov/health/shad). The information published on this website may be reproduced without permission. Please use the following citation: "Retrieved Wed, 19 June 2013 8:33:05 from New Jersey Department of Health, Center for Health Statistics, State Health Assessment Data Web site: http://nj.gov/health/shad".

Content updated: Tue, 28 May 2013 04:01:06 EDT