“The chemical industry is working frantically to suppress that scientific consensus — because it fears “public confusion.” Big Chem apparently worries that you might be confused if you learned that formaldehyde caused cancer of the nose and throat, and perhaps leukemia as well. …The industry’s strategy is to lobby Congress to cut off money for the Report on Carcinogens, a 500-page consensus document published every two years by the National Institutes of Health, containing the best information about what agents cause cancer. If that sounds like shooting the messenger, well, it is.”
Since then, hype about the risks of formaldehyde continues to circulate on the internet as if Kristof made some new discovery. For example, OMB Watch cites the article as authoritative evidence of an industry conspiracy in a blog entitled “Chemical Industry Spending Millions to Hide Danger of Cancer-Causing Products.”….. According to the EPA the levels of formaldehyde found in homes are low. EPA notes on its website: “Average concentrations in older homes without are generally well below 0.1 ppm [or 100 ppb] In homes with significant amounts of new pressed wood products, levels can be greater than 0.3 ppm [or 300 ppb].” According to the World Health Organization, several countries have set guidelines for acceptable levels of formaldehyde in homes that range 0.05 ppm [50 ppb] to 0.4 ppm [400ppb], “with a preference for 0.1 ppm [100 ppb].”So why would the chemical industry need to engage in a conspiracy? There isn’t much to hide as all this information is publicly available and the risks to consumers are very low. To Read More.....
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