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ALS, Formaldehyde Link Suggested

Researchers from Harvard University recently announced the findings of an exhaustive study that appears to identify a link between exposure to formaldehyde and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), sometimes referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The Harvard researchers reviewed data from the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention Study II, in which more than one million people described their exposure levels to 12 different chemicals, including formaldehyde. Study participants were monitored throughout the following 15 years. The Harvard research team used that data to identify study participants who succumbed to ALS during the follow-up period. ALS claimed the lives of 539 women and 617 men.

The 1,156 ALS deaths could not be linked to the participants’ exposure to most of the chemicals under study, which included herbicides and pesticides. It was the formaldehyde exposure that seemed to draw the most concern. Formaldehyde exposure seems to have increased the likelihood of developing ALS by 34%.

Marc Weisskopf, PhD, lead author for the study, acknowledges the possibility of chance observation but says the finding warrants further exploration. Study participants who recorded 10 years or more of formaldehyde exposure were found to be at four times greater risk for ALS than participants with no such exposure.

Weisskopf considers the results preliminary but surprising, since formaldehyde had not been linked previously to the incidence of ALS.

Study participants described their chemical exposure in 1982. In 1987, the US Environmental Protection Agency reclassified formaldehyde as a probable human carcinogen when exposure levels are high and its use has declined but has not stopped entirely.

Cosmetics, shampoo, glues, permanent press fabrics, particle board and many other wood products, as well as many household products contain formaldehyde. When used as a preservative, the chemical is common in mortuaries and medical laboratories. It is also formulated as an industrial-strength disinfectant.

The Weisskopf research was presented April 16 at the 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Chicago.

Source: American Academy of Neurology

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