By: Saji George

Formaldehyde is used in beauty products as a preservative, in the textile industry, in making plywood, composite wood items, adhesives, and many other products. Consumers can be exposed to the chemical in tobacco smoke, construction materials, furniture, carpets, and other household products. Formaldehyde is carcinogenic to humans, causes respiratory problems and skin irritation. It is now in the 20 high priority chemicals list for review by the EPA. In some industries, formaldehyde releasers are used and these slow-release free formaldehyde over time. The free and hydrolyzed forms of formaldehyde can be determined by HPLC method with post-column derivatization.

The Pickering Nash reagent comes in two parts, and can be mixed right before use. We sell two formulations, one according to the AATCC method 206 for colorimetric determination and the other according to ASTM D5910 for free and hydrolyzed formaldehyde for HPLC post-column method.