Is it necessary to wear mask or special glasses when working with formalin?

Tagged: formaldehyde, formalin, safety

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Is it necessary to wear mask or special glasses when working with formalin?

Posted by Abdullah on November 30, 2021 at 3:22 am

I am currently trying to shift to using formalin as preservative for my shampoos because of it’s effectiveness, no impact on viscosity and very affordable price. I will go to DMDM hydantoin in the future.
The shampoo is made cold process.

I currently wear no mask or glass when making samples in a small closed room or during manufacturing in a big room and kind of open because i didn’t feel the need for it. I have worked with only phenoxyethanol, benzyl alcohol and fragrance as volatile ingredients.

Yesterday i purchased some formalin and did smell it from close , it was very unpleasant and disturbing for my eyes and nose but two of my colleagues who didn’t try to smell it from that close felt nothing whe filled one bottle from another bottle of formalin.

My question is

is it safe to work with formalin in closed room for making samples or big and open room for production without wearing mask or special glasses?

Abdullah replied 2 years, 11 months ago 5 Members · 11 Replies
11 Replies

Syl

Member
November 30, 2021 at 4:14 am

Below is the OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) regulations fact sheet for formaldehyde in the US.

https://www.odu.edu/content/dam/odu/offices/environmental-health-safety/docs/formaldehyde.pdf

These are the safety standards
https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.104 8

Be safe,

Syl
Abdullah

Member
November 30, 2021 at 4:33 am

@Syl can’t open the links. Says blocked.

Can you send the PDF file if you can open it.
ozgirl

Member
November 30, 2021 at 4:36 am

Did you read the Safety Data Sheet for this material? It is a very toxic product and you should definitely wear PPE when using it.

https://www.fishersci.com/store/msds?partNumber=F75P20&productDescription=FORMALDEHYDE+37%25+20L&vendorId=VN00033897&countryCode=US&language=en

It is always recommended to wear safety glasses when using any chemicals in the lab or manufacturing. It is not a good idea to smell chemicals when you are not aware of the hazards.

You will need a respirator/mask with a special filter specifically for formaldehyde. You may potentially need other PPE and engineering controls depending on the volumes you are using.
Syl

Member
November 30, 2021 at 8:23 am

@ Abdullah, the file is in the attachment I hope you can open it.
Ozgirl is correct, formaldehyde is toxic.
Abdullah

Member
November 30, 2021 at 8:36 am

@ozgirl no i didn’t read the MSDS of formalin because our local suppliers don’t provide those materials.

Thanks for the file.
Abdullah

Member
November 30, 2021 at 8:36 am

@Syl thanks a lot
PhilGeis

Member
December 1, 2021 at 12:03 pm

Abdullah said:

@ozgirl no i didn’t read the MSDS of formalin because our local suppliers don’t provide those materials.

Thanks for the file.

Do not use any material whose supplier offers no MSDS. Here;s an msds https://www.mchem.co.nz/site/mchem/MSDS/FORMALIN%2037%20PERCENT%20MSDS.PDF
Abdullah

Member
December 1, 2021 at 1:33 pm

PhilGeis said:

Abdullah said:

@ozgirl no i didn’t read the MSDS of formalin because our local suppliers don’t provide those materials.

Thanks for the file.

Do not use any material whose supplier offers no MSDS. Here;s an msds https://www.mchem.co.nz/site/mchem/MSDS/FORMALIN%2037%20PERCENT%20MSDS.PDF

Here suppliers don’t offer MSDS for anything because it is not the norm here. Most of them don’t know English. They even don’t know the details of the product. For example currently i am purchasing SLS liquid locally but they don’t know the active percentage of it so i don’t know it too. I am just guessing it may be 28% active.
PhilGeis

Member
December 1, 2021 at 2:31 pm

Good grief.
Cafe33

Member
December 2, 2021 at 9:35 pm

Abdullah said:

PhilGeis said:

Abdullah said:

@ozgirl no i didn’t read the MSDS of formalin because our local suppliers don’t provide those materials.

Thanks for the file.

Do not use any material whose supplier offers no MSDS. Here;s an msds https://www.mchem.co.nz/site/mchem/MSDS/FORMALIN%2037%20PERCENT%20MSDS.PDF

Here suppliers don’t offer MSDS for anything because it is not the norm here. Most of them don’t know English. They even don’t know the details of the product. For example currently i am purchasing SLS liquid locally but they don’t know the active percentage of it so i don’t know it too. I am just guessing it may be 28% active.

I understand what you have to go through. I had to sort a lot of things out when I started up here in Mexico. Similar situation although the info is available, just have to navigate to get it. Not as simple as downloading a pdf from lotioncrafter’s website.
Abdullah

Member
December 3, 2021 at 5:31 am

Cafe33 said:

Abdullah said:

PhilGeis said:

Abdullah said:

@ozgirl no i didn’t read the MSDS of formalin because our local suppliers don’t provide those materials.

Thanks for the file.

Do not use any material whose supplier offers no MSDS. Here;s an msds https://www.mchem.co.nz/site/mchem/MSDS/FORMALIN%2037%20PERCENT%20MSDS.PDF

Here suppliers don’t offer MSDS for anything because it is not the norm here. Most of them don’t know English. They even don’t know the details of the product. For example currently i am purchasing SLS liquid locally but they don’t know the active percentage of it so i don’t know it too. I am just guessing it may be 28% active.

I understand what you have to go through. I had to sort a lot of things out when I started up here in Mexico. Similar situation although the info is available, just have to navigate to get it. Not as simple as downloading a pdf from lotioncrafter’s website.

Thanks