Description of microparticles in urea-formaldehyde foam insulation products
Thousands of families living in homes insulated with urea-formaldehyde foam (UFF) have complained of various health problems. This product is now banned from the market both in Canada and the United States. Formaldehyde gas emitted by the products has been considered to be the source of these health problems but this cause-effect relationship has not been confirmed as yet. It has been suggested that other contaminants released by the foam could be involved. Work initiated to verify this possibility has permitted the observation of microparticles of less than 1 ..mu..m in diameter in foam samples obtained from various houses. The microparticles can easily be removed from the foam by passing air through it or, simply, by immersing it in water. These particles have been studied by different microscopy techniques and their morphological characteristics are described. They may represent a potential health risk.
- Research Organization:
- Centre Hospitalier de l'Universite Laval, Saint-Foy, Quebec
- OSTI ID:
- 5560327
- Journal Information:
- Environ. Res.; (United States), Vol. 36:2
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
PARTICULATES
HEALTH HAZARDS
MORPHOLOGY
UREA-FORMALDEHYDE FOAMS
AIR POLLUTION
EMISSION
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
HOUSES
MICROSCOPY
MONITORING
PARTICLE SIZE
POLLUTION SOURCES
THERMAL INSULATION
BUILDINGS
COLLOIDS
DATA
DISPERSIONS
FOAMS
HAZARDS
INFORMATION
NUMERICAL DATA
PARTICLES
POLLUTION
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
SIZE
500200* - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)