High exposure to formaldehyde linked to ALS

WASHINGTON, July 14 (UPI) -- A large study of data revealed a link between high exposure to formaldehyde and an increased risk of developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

Formaldehyde is used in embalming and for preserving tissues in medical laboratories, as well as in adhesives, disinfectants, various pressed-wood products, some fabrics and for drug testing.

"Jobs involving both high probability and high intensity of formaldehyde are relatively uncommon in the USA," wrote the authors of a study published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry which found exposure to formaldehyde can increase risk for ALS in men by three times.

Researchers reviewed data from the U.S. National Longitudinal Mortality Study on the relationship between formaldehyde exposure and ALS. Nearly all of the 500 people considered for the study, based on their probably of high exposure to formaldehyde, were funeral directors.

Formaldehyde is one of the major ingredients in embalming fluid. As a result, funeral directors have a significantly higher exposure to it than people in most other jobs.

Researchers determined that funeral directors -- if not other jobs that include high exposure to formaldehyde on a regular basis -- have about three times as much a chance of developing ALS. The data showed that men are four times as likely to develop the disease.

The researchers only considered people with "high exposure," so garment workers or people working in drug testing labs who are not regularly breathing fumes from formaldehyde were not considered in the data.