Last update Aug. 1, 2024
Limited compatibility
Suggestions made at e-lactancia are done by APILAM team of health professionals, and are based on updated scientific publications. It is not intended to replace the relationship you have with your doctor but to compound it. The pharmaceutical industry contraindicates breastfeeding, mistakenly and without scientific reasons, in most of the drug data sheets.
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Formaldehyde is also known as
Formaldehyde in other languages or writings:
Formaldehyde belongs to this group or family:
Main tradenames from several countries containing Formaldehyde in its composition:
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e-lactancia is a resource recommended by La Liga de la Leche, España of Spain
Would you like to recommend the use of e-lactancia? Write to us at corporate mail of APILAM
Formaldehyde, formalin or formaldehyde is a very volatile gas, respiratory, eye and skin irritant. The olfactory level is so low that it can prevent intoxication. It is used in many industrial applications (wood, cosmetics, paint, plastics, resins, chemicals, textiles, photography) and in the preservation of histological samples and corpses, as a disinfectant and in hairdressing products used for hair straightening. The major source of exposure is combustion processes (ATSDR 2008 and 1999).
Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen, especially nasopharyngeal (USDHHS 2016, INSHT 2015, NCI 2011).
Discrete hormonal alterations have been observed in women occupationally exposed to mixtures of organic solvents among which formaldehyde was found.(Hassani 2014)
At the level of occupational risk to the nursing mother (INSHT 2024, UN 2011, EC Regulation 2008), the risk phrases (former R-phrases, currently H-phrases for Hazard, danger) or precautionary phrases (P-phrases) that must appear on the safety data sheet of a product are only two:
Six other phrases to consider during breastfeeding relate to the carcinogenic, mutagenic or cumulative power of a product:
This product has the phrase H350 (“May cause cancer”). (INSHT 2024)
According to current European regulations (EC Regulation 2008) when a product is carcinogenic and/or mutagenic, working nursing mothers should not be exposed to mixtures, whether of solids, liquids or gases, with concentration limits above 0.3%.
There is a growing concern of occupational exposure to formaldehyde in nursing mothers. (Grajewski 2016)
It is rapidly destroyed in plasma and tissues, so it is thought to be very unlikely that formaldehyde inhaled or in contact with the skin would be transferred from mother to infant through breast milk (ATSDR 1999), but it could occur in workplaces with high levels of exposure such as anatomic pathology laboratories, dissection classrooms, and mortuaries. (Kulisch 2020, CDC-NIOSH 2015)
Because of this, several agencies believe it is prudent for breastfeeding women to be relieved from jobs involving high levels of formaldehyde exposure (Kulisch 2020). If the company does not grant a job accommodation to an occupationally exposed nursing mother, it should ensure that protective work conditions (CDC-NIOSH 2015: masks, gloves) and good ventilation of rooms that keep the TLV-EC (TLV-STEL) below 0.3 ppm (0.37 mg/m3) are met. (INSHT 2024, USDHHS 2016)
Do not breastfeed if mother intoxicated by massive inhalation or ingestion. The benefits of breastfeeding outweigh the risk from low levels of environmental contaminants in human milk, in many cases lower than those in cow's milk or other foods. (Mead 2008)
See below the information of this related product: