Comparison of health of occupants and characteristics of houses among control homes and homes insulated with urea formaldehyde foam. II. Initial health and house variables and exposure-response relationships

Journal Article · Fri Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1988 · Environ. Res.; (United States)

OSTI ID:7252538

Broder, I; Corey, P; Cole, P; Lipa, M; Mintz, S; Nethercott, J R

A health survey was conducted on 1726 occupants of urea formaldehyde foam insulated (UFFI) houses and 720 residents of control homes. The occupants of the UFFI houses showed a modest excess of many symptoms relative to the controls. This excess of complaints was contributed mainly by the residents of households which were intending to have their UFFI removed and by onsets which followed the installation of UFFI. There were no associated abnormalities in nasal airway resistance, sense of smell, pulmonary function, or patch tests for allergy to formaldehyde. However, the UFFI subjects intending to have their UFFI removed demonstrated a small increase in nasal epithelial squamous metaplasia. The indoor formaldehyde levels of the UFFI houses were about 20% higher than in the controls, while the carbon dioxide levels were similar in both groups. The UFFI subjects showed positive relationships between level of formaldehyde exposure and the presence of a number of symptoms, which were largely dependent on a small group of formaldehyde values that were in excess of 0.12 ppm. A number of the exposure-response relationships were enhanced by UFFI. These results suggested that some adverse health effects of UFFI were explained by formaldehyde alone while others were related to the combined effects of formaldehyde and an additional UFFI-related factor(s) which was not identified.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
• OSTI ID: 7252538
• Journal Information: Environ. Res.; (United States), Journal Name: Environ. Res.; (United States) Vol. 45:2; ISSN ENVRA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AIR POLLUTION
ALDEHYDES
AMIDES
BUILDINGS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CARBONIC ACID DERIVATIVES
CHALCOGENIDES
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONTAMINATION
DOSE-RESPONSE RELATIONSHIPS
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE
FORMALDEHYDE
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
HOUSES
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
SYMPTOMS
THERMAL INSULATION
UREA