Formaldehyde is a naturally occurring chemical compound found in all living beings. It has a wide range of uses and benefits that make it a valuable and productive chemical to our society. Formaldehyde is widely used across many different industries including construction, healthcare and manufacturing to name a few. If you're curious to learn more about this chemical, then here is a breakdown of the uses, types and benefits of formaldehyde.  

What is Formaldehyde? 

Formaldehyde is a colorless, strong-smelling and flammable gas. Oxygen, carbon and hydrogen combine to form formaldehyde. It's a simple, naturally occurring chemical compound produced and found in all living beings as part of their natural cellular processes. The chemical formula for formaldehyde is CH2O, and it is produced by every living being as part of cellular metabolism. Whether it's a plant, tree, fish or other animal, they all produce formaldehyde as part of their natural metabolic processes. In humans, formaldehyde is quickly broken down by our cellular processes, which prevents the chemical from building up in our systems. 

 It's formaldehyde's antibacterial and preservative properties that make it an ideal chemical compound for uses beyond medical labs, such as in the production of valuable goods and materials essential to society.  

Formaldehyde is a diverse chemical compound that is used in different ways. When dissolved in water, formaldehyde becomes formalin. Formalin is the chemical form of formaldehyde most commonly used in medical labs and funeral parlors for embalming and taxidermy purposes. However, formaldehyde has different names and many other applications beyond preservation.   

In fact, formaldehyde is used in the production of several different everyday items including some of the foods you eat. Furniture, makeup and building materials are all produced with a little assistance from formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is an essential and useful chemical that has been thoroughly researched and studied over the years. There are different types of formaldehyde. It is an incredibly versatile chemical compound that is often listed on the products you use every day under different names as it's modified for use.  

Many people aren't aware that there are many different types, uses and benefits of formaldehyde in medical, industrial and clinical settings. If you're weighing whether or not formaldehyde is a good fit for your medical office, scientific lab or other clinical setting, here is some additional information to help you gain a better understanding of this diverse and useful natural chemical compound. 

Different Types of Formaldehyde 

Formaldehyde's simple chemical formula is easily modified to create variations of the compound. Different types of formaldehyde are found across product labels on many of the items you likely use daily or at least regularly. 

For example, formalin, which is the chemical commonly used for embalming and taxidermy purposes, is created by simply dissolving formaldehyde in water. Dissolving formaldehyde in water to create formalin transforms the compound from a gas into a liquid. Formalin is formaldehyde in a different physical state to create a useful product for certain industries and professions, such as funeral homes and medical labs. 

Formalin is only one of the different types of formaldehyde you'll find. You'll find several different types of formaldehyde listed across products and labels under various names. Besides formalin, you'll find there are different names for formaldehyde including: 

• Formic aldehyde
• Methanediol
• Methanal
• Methyl aldehyde
• Methylene glycol
• Methylene oxide

These are just a few of the different names for formaldehyde as you'll find them listed as ingredients in products. These various types of formaldehyde are used for different purposes to help produce, create or build a range of materials. Besides forming as a result of cellular processes, formaldehyde is also a by-product of combusting other compounds and chemicals. 

It's important to understand the existence of formaldehyde both as a manmade chemical product and a naturally occurring by-product of celled organisms and their processes, but formaldehyde also originates from other sources. Certain chemicals used as preservatives can release formaldehyde as a by-product. 

According to cancer.org, there are different types of formaldehyde-producing chemicals commonly used as preservatives including: 

• Benzylhemiformal
• 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol
• 5-bromo-5-nitro-1,3-dioxane
• Diazolidinyl urea
• Imidazolidinyl urea
• Sodium hydroxymethylglycinate

Although these chemicals are not different types of formaldehyde itself, it has been established that they will create and release formaldehyde as a by-product. Despite its value and real-world applications, formaldehyde has a negative stigma attached to its name. This stigma exists in large part due to formaldehyde's role as an embalming fluid coupled with its other applications related to preserving human tissue.

Formaldehyde Uses

Formaldehyde is a useful and valuable compound due to its antibacterial and preservative properties. This makes formaldehyde highly useful and effective for embalming and taxidermy purposes, but other industries and professions have also found ways to harness the compound's attributes. 

Formaldehyde's basic chemical composition, CH2O, makes it a useful and key ingredient when creating other chemicals. In its natural form, formaldehyde is a gas. When humans, animals and other living matter produce formaldehyde during cell metabolism, it is released in the form of a gas. In order to harness formaldehyde's beneficial properties for commercial applications, it must be transformed from a gas into a more practical state such as a solid or liquid.  

A History of Formaldehyde Applications

Understanding the history of formaldehyde from its discovery to it widespread use for commercial applications will help you realize why it's useful to today's world. As a naturally occurring chemical compound, scientific discoveries believe formaldehyde may have been one of the first substances in the universe. The simple composition of one part carbon, two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen suggests the possibility that formaldehyde is billions of years old and could have contributed to making life on earth a possibility. 

Despite all of its potential contributions, formaldehyde wasn't officially discovered until 1859 when Alexander Mikhailovich Butlerov attempted to synthesize methylene glycol. Like many chemical compounds, formaldehyde was discovered by accident. It was 1868 when University of Berlin professor of chemistry and laboratory director August Wilhelm Von Hofmann developed a method for identifying formaldehyde that built the foundation for today's modern manufacturing processes. 

Years later, in the 1880's, Germany began producing formaldehyde commercially. Commercial production of formaldehyde in other countries across the globe including France and the United States started years later in the early 1900's. Even then, formaldehyde was primarily used for embalming and medical preservation. It wasn't until 1907 that Dr. Leo Baekeland invented the first synthetic polymeric material made from a phenol formaldehyde resin. The aptly named Bakelite is widely regarded as the first material of its kind. 

A few decades later in 1940, the first commercial-grade particle board was produced at a factory in Germany with the use of a formaldehyde-based resin to build the pressed wood material. The manufacturing of particle board and pressed wood products sparked a new era in material production and furniture making. 

Formaldehyde evolved from a chemical compound used primarily for preserving human tissue and an embalming fluid into a key ingredient for producing pressed wood products and other essential building materials. Today, formaldehyde sold for the purposes of preservation and embalming comprises less than one percent of its total global sales.

Formaldehyde Applications

Formaldehyde is used to help produce many different products and materials. Commercial applications for formaldehyde range from the manufacturing of building materials to aiding in the production of vaccines. Formaldehyde also plays a key role in the ways we produce everyday household goods and items.  

There are many commercial applications of formaldehyde for a range of different industries including: 

• Building materials: Formaldehyde-based resins are used in the manufacture of building materials such as pressed-wood products like particle board, fiberboard and plywood. It is an essential and key chemical when it comes to making everyday household items such as furniture, cabinets, flooring and countertops.

• Food preservation: Although formaldehyde itself is banned for use as a food preservative, many of the foods you eat naturally produce formaldehyde as a by-product of metabolic processes. Vegetables, fruits, shellfish and meats such as pork and beef all produce formaldehyde naturally. Despite its being a banned food preservation chemical, formaldehyde is an approved disinfectant for some of the things that may come in contact with your food, such as preparation surfaces and storage containers. Many of the chemicals used as food preservatives also release formaldehyde as a by-product. Even though formaldehyde itself is not an approved food preservative, it is at times present in food preservatives.

• Medical lab sterilization and vaccine production: Formaldehyde has widespread applications as a powerful antiseptic that kills most all viruses, bacteria and fungi. As an antibacterial and antifungal agent, formaldehyde also prevents spores and bacteria from growing. This makes formaldehyde an excellent option for not only combating infection but preventing it from spreading. Formaldehyde is also used in the production of vaccines to sterilize products.   

• Sanitizing consumer products: Formaldehyde is used in the production of household consumer products as an industrial disinfectant and sterilizer. Many of the household products we use daily have to be disinfected before they're made available to consumers. Formaldehyde plays a key role in the production of personal sanitation products such as paper towels, tissues and napkins.
  
  
• Processing fossil fuels: Formaldehyde also plays a role in processing essential fossil fuels such as petroleum and natural gas. Formaldehyde is useful as it helps improve the yield of these fuels.
  
  
• Adhesives, glues and coatings: Formaldehyde is also used in the production of adhesives, glues and other industrial coatings. Phenol-formaldehyde and urea-formaldehyde are the two most common types of formaldehyde-based adhesives used by manufacturers of building materials such as pressed-wood products like plywood. Urea-formaldehyde is widely used as an adhesive for creating and producing plywood as it has proven resistance to elements such as weather and moisture.
     
• Automobile production and assembly:  Formaldehyde-based resins such as phenolic resin are used in the manufacture of different automotive parts, accessories and supplies. Formaldehyde-based resins are also used to produce automotive paints and primers. Since automotive paint and primer has to be extremely durable to withstand weather elements such as rain, heat, snow and exposure to extreme sunlight, strong and resistant formaldehyde-based resins are ideal for producing them.   

These are just a few of the commercial applications of formaldehyde. There are several types of formaldehyde-based chemicals, resins and adhesives that are essential to producing everyday household goods and products. It's safe to say that formaldehyde plays an essential role in your daily life whether you realize it or not. 

Formaldehyde Benefits 

Formaldehyde offers a range of benefits that most people aren't aware of. The benefits of formaldehyde do not start and stop with its antibacterial and disinfectant properties. Formaldehyde benefits various commercial industries by playing a key role in the production of goods such as building materials, adhesives and medical supplies, but it has also helped us as a society progress and prosper over the centuries. 

The discovery of formaldehyde in the 1850's helped make it possible for scientists to gain a new understanding of the chemical world. Formaldehyde-based chemistry has served as a building block for scientific advances in areas such as sanitation and sustainability.  

• Public health and sanitation benefits: Formaldehyde's role in advancing sanitation practices starts with its natural antibacterial and antifungal properties. This makes formaldehyde an essential ingredient and chemical for producing life-saving vaccines and biologic therapeutics. Formaldehyde is used in the treatment of parasitic infections and warts. Formaldehyde often acts as a preservative to kill potentially harmful microorganisms in the personal products you use daily including moisturizers, shampoo, lotions and sunscreen.
  
  
• Sustainability of wood-based products: The high performance of formaldehyde-based adhesives and resins allows for the sustainability of wood-based products. The formaldehyde-based resins used as an adhesive for producing reusable wood-based products is proven to be the best combination of performance and economic value. Sawdust, wood chips and other by-products of harvesting lumber for producing building materials are combined and pressed together to create products such as plywood. Society's ability to recycle and repurpose wood based products relies heavily on formaldehyde-based resins and adhesives for creating sustainable wood products for furniture and building materials.  

Buy Formaldehyde From Mercedes Scientific

Now that you have a deeper understanding of the ways formaldehyde is used and the ways it benefits the world's commerce and public health, are you interested in using formaldehyde for your medical, clinical or scientific lab? 

Mercedes Scientific's assortment of laboratory products and services are designed to meet your lab's needs for chemicals and other products, including formaldehyde. Our customer-focused approach is steeped in the belief that we can provide our clients with top of the line products and services while offering an easy, fast and efficient shopping experience. At Mercedes Scientific, we provide your medical lab or office with a range of essential products and services that ensure your operations are running smoothly, efficiently and productively. 

With affordably priced products and fast delivery options, it's easy to see why Mercedes Scientific is an industry leading supplier of medical and clinical products across the country. For more information on our products and services, simply fill out an online contact form and a member of our team will be in touch with you shortly. 

Want to speak with us directly? Give us a call at 800-331-2716 for more information and to get started shopping with Mercedes Scientific right away!