Environment: Indoor Pollution

Formaldehyde leads the list

Employees of the local social services department looked forward to their relocation to a new building in downtown San Francisco last year. But almost as soon as the move occurred, one of them was plagued by headaches, skin rashes, a dry throat and coughing. Puzzled doctors prescribed so much medication that she was hospitalized twice for drug reactions. Depressed by her strange illness, she had to stop working temporarily.

The woman was the victim of a new type of environmental blight: indoor pollution. By caulking seams, using multi-pane windows and packing walls with insulation, building owners can halve fuel needs for heating and cooling. But the saving comes at a price: seepage of fresh air from outside is so sharply reduced that pollutants from the building itself can accumulate to dangerous levels.

Calling such indoor smog an emerging health problem, the Comptroller General has cited half a dozen harmful substances detected in unusual quantities in super-sealed buildings. Among them: carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, both byproducts of smoking, gas stoves and leaky furnaces; the radioactive gas radon, which results from the natural decay of radium, an element found in soil, rocks and other building materials; and numerous particles of dust, soot and asbestos.

But the substance stirring the most concern—and the apparent source of the California woman's illness—is formaldehyde, a gas given off by, among other things, poorly installed foam insulation. Although colorless, the gas has a pungent odor, can irritate the eyes and nose and can cause dizziness and vomiting. If animal tests are any indication, it can also create more serious problems. Subjected to prolonged high concentrations of formaldehyde, at levels comparable to those in some buildings, rats and mice developed cancerous tumors in their noses.

Industry spokesmen note that formaldehyde has long been used safely in products from nonwrinkle fabrics to fiberboard and drugs. The lab results, they say, cannot be extrapolated to humans. But many officials disagree. Massachusetts banned the sale of formaldehyde-based foam insulation last year, and other states are looking into the situation. So is the Federal Government, which now employs tax incentives to spur use of energy-saving insulation, including formaldehyde foam. Acting on the conclusion of a scientific advisory panel that there is indeed a cancer risk involved, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is slated to vote this week on whether to restrict foam insulation.