Formalin is a human health risk

[PharmrJohn]

I've always been surprised that one of the more toxic chemicals that reefers use, and one of the harder ones to use safely at home, is generally ignored as a safety risk.

If I were to use formaldehyde in a lab, the safety requirements would definitely involve using it only in a fume hood to avoid any exposure. But reefers use it to treat fish at home quite often.

I've never used it at home, and likely never will.

This article today is a reminder of the health risks:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/05/health/formaldehyde-cancer-air-pollutant-propublica/index.html

Formaldehyde causes more cancer than any other toxic air pollutant. Little is being done to curb the risk​

I'm in complete agreement with this. I would hesitate to work with it in a lab even. I've worked with my share of toxic chemicals and meds (IV Chemo). Too much can go wrong.

 

[IceNein]

Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) now just called SDS (safety data sheets) are required to be provided to anyone from the manufacturer by request. Compliance with this is a pretty serious issue, so if you contact a supplier and they give you the run around, I would be VERY surprised.

Safe handling, toxicology, storage, and disposal will be covered.

If anyone is interested or concerned about any chemical they are using for reef keeping or otherwise, they should exercise their right to acquire the SDS.

Here's an example of what you can expect to find: https://store-eqljkcpj9a.mybigcommerce.com/content/10N_Sodium_Hydroxide_NaOH_40_6_US_EN_sds.pdf

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Any other recommendation to deal with Uronema?

Chloroquine, but there is no effective treatment for inter cellular Uronema.

 

[fishtex]

Anyone else remember frog dissection in high school way back in the day? I remember handling those frogs for days with no gloves or eye protection. That whole end of the building stank for days. Biology teacher just pulled them out of a big old bucket of formaldehyde. And they call them "the good ole days". Ha!!!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Anyone else remember frog dissection in high school way back in the day? I remember handling those frogs for days with no gloves or eye protection. That whole end of the building stank for days. Biology teacher just pulled them out of a big old bucket of formaldehyde. And they call them "the good ole days". Ha!!!

I put a sheep’s eye in the desk drawer of my French teacher. She always blamed me after that for giving her a fungus, but I suspect the formaldehyde made that unlikely.

 

[littlebeard]

I put a sheep’s eye in the desk drawer of my French teacher. She always blamed me after that for giving her a fungus, but I suspect the formaldehyde made that unlikely.

And we wonder why no one wants to be a teacher anymore

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I put a sheep’s eye in the desk drawer of my French teacher. She always blamed me after that for giving her a fungus, but I suspect the formaldehyde made that unlikely.

Here is my high school dissection story: In advanced bio, we dissected cats. They were fixed in formalin. I was apparently a "good" student, and when the class was done with the cats, my teacher asked me to take them down to the incinerator. We had used cafeteria trays to work on the cats. As me and some classmates are carrying the cats on stacks of trays, I got to thinking; "Hmm, skinned cats on cafeteria trays? What would happen if we just dropped these off during lunch in the cafeteria? It was my senior year, so I tried a prank and plopped them down at a table of girls. All heck broke loose! I did actually graduate, but the school newspaper wrote up the incident, and the teacher was quoted as saying, "I now take the cats to the incinerator myself!"

Jay

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Here is my high school dissection story: In advanced bio, we dissected cats. They were fixed in formalin. I was apparently a "good" student, and when the class was done with the cats, my teacher asked me to take them down to the incinerator. We had used cafeteria trays to work on the cats. As me and some classmates are carrying the cats on stacks of trays, I got to thinking; "Hmm, skinned cats on cafeteria trays? What would happen if we just dropped these off during lunch in the cafeteria? It was my senior year, so I tried a prank and plopped them down at a table of girls. All heck broke loose! I did actually graduate, but the school newspaper wrote up the incident, and the teacher was quoted as saying, "I now take the cats to the incinerator myself!"

Jay

Great story! lol

 

[Linlox]

I filed all of the frog parts in the instructor edition between pages while it was on the lecturn when the teacher left the room. My biology career ended that day.

 

[Reefer1978]

Found the video I was thinking of in my earlier post: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/15npggo4vj/