11 Weird Sources of Formaldehyde in Your Life

Apparently keeping embalming ingredients out of your home is harder than you imagined.

Formaldehyde—yes, the chemical used in embalming and taxidermy—has broken out of the lab and founds its way into your home. Named by the U.S. National Toxicology Program and the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a carcinogen, this chemical is clearly something you don't want floating around your precious living space, let alone your body. 

So what's it even doing anywhere close to you?

"Formaldehyde is a preservative (or sometimes a by-product released by other preservatives) that prevents bacteria growth and (weirdly) makes your hair silky smooth," explains Jessica Alba, actor and founder of The Honest Company (retailor of nontoxic home cleaning and personal care products) and author of The Honest Life.

"It can cause cancer after chronic, long-term exposure, plus it can trigger allergic reactions, rashes, nosebleeds, asthma, and other respiratory issues," she adds.

Detox this chemical from your life by keeping an eye out for these sneaky suspects.

Fake Sweeteners

Sugar is toxic, but the replacement may be way worse. Alba points out that aspartame, with its long list of health crimes, can also break down into formaldehyde. 

How to Avoid It: While you're really better off giving up sweet stuff entirely, we know that that's not always possible (unless you have willpower of steel). Natural replacements like stevia or organic, raw, local honey are much safer than the questionable stuff made in a lab. 

Hollywood Hair Straighteners

You shouldn't have to pay for sleek, shiny hair with your health. "The Brazilian blowout has been making headlines for ages now because it's shockingly high formaldehyde content has caused so many hair stylists and some customers to become sick," says Alba, but this isn't the only tainted beauty treatment. The ugly truth is that many brands of keratin hair straightener give off formaldehyde in the form of gas.

How to Avoid It: Don't fall for the "formaldehyde-free" claim. "The Environmental Working Group conducted its own lab tests and found 16 brands containing formaldehyde—15 of which claimed to be low- or no-formaldehyde," says Alba.

Instead, she recommends a good, old-fashioned straightener. "When it's not too humid, I find that a little dab of argan oil or another natural leave-in on my ends is enough to keep everything shiny and smooth."

For a stronger hold, Alba recommends using a lightweight silicone gel and giving yourself a blowout with a hair dryer and a round brush. 

Nail Polish

"Nail polish is one area we thought we had sorted out," says Alba; "back in 2006, almost all of the big mainstream polish brands promised to reformulate their products and remove the 'toxic trio' (formaldehyde, toluene, and dibutyl phthalate or DBP)." Is anyone surprised that they didn't keep their word? 

How to Avoid It: You don't have to keep your nails nude; you just need to find a safer brand. Zoya, Priti NYC, and Butter London are great for toxic-three-free, natural nail polish. 

Makeup

The quest for beauty stays hot on the trail of formaldehyde. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has found formaldehyde-releasing preservative ingredients in makeup, including foundation, blush, pressed powders, bronzers, and eye shadows.

How to Avoid It: Avoid any products that list quaternium-15, DMDM hydantoin, imidazolidinyl urea, diazolidinyl urea, sodium hydroxymethylglycinate, or 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol (bromopol). Safe brands include W3ll People and RMS Beauty.

A Remodeled Kitchen

"Most mainstream brands of cabinets are made with pressed wood or particleboard that's stuck together with glue containing formaldehyde and other preservatives that off-gas chemicals you won't want in your kitchen," says Alba. 

How to Avoid It: Alba recommends going to architectural or kitchen salvage depots to find used cabinets that are made of solid lumber, not pressed wood or particleboard. 

For new, if you want to go high-end, find a local cabinetmaker that will work with solid wood. For a more economical option, IKEA has made an effort to detox in the construction of most of its cabinets. 

New Furniture

Now that you've renovated your home, you want to furnish it. Alba points out that furniture has similar issues to that of cabinets. Some of the biggest culprits, scarily, can be found in the nursery. "Buying a brand-new crib, changing table, and rocker, all made from particleboard or other composite woods, can off-gas formaldehyde," says Alba.

How to Avoid It: Go vintage! Not only will you find some funky styles, your furniture will be safer too. "Formaldehyde dissipates significantly after the first five years of a piece of furniture's life, so vintage finds are often a safer bet than buying new," says Alba. 

If you want to buy new, she recommends looking for untreated, solid wood furniture. Either leave it bare or refinish it with nontoxic, no-VOC paints and sealants. If you're not sure if your product is safe, you can also let your new purchases sit in an open garage for a few days to give it a chance to off-gas outside of your home. Once you bring the pieces in, leave a fan running and the windows open for a few days.

Your Kids' Bath Time

It's hard enough getting kids clean but you should double check that their bath time isn't making them dirtier. "More than half of the kids' bath products tested by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics have turned up formaldehyde," says Alba. Some of the offending kids' bath products in their test were branded with popular children's brands like Dora the Explorer, Hot Wheels, and Sesame Street. 

How to Avoid It: Avoid products that list formalin, quaternium-15, or methyl aldehyde as ingredients.

Cleaning Products

Products intended to make your house clean might also be making it more toxic. Products containing d-limonene, such as Citra-Solv Cleaner & Degreaser, can mix with ozone in the air to make formaldehyde. Laundry products, like Ajax, Dynamo, and Bab Ultra also contain formaldehyde.

How to Avoid It: Formaldehyde probably isn't going to be listed on any label. As a general rule, avoid citrus-scented cleaners, as the limonene has been shown to create all kinds of indoor pollution. Try making your own all-purpose cleaner with water and vinegar.

Keeping houseplants like ferns and English ivy can also help clean pollutants out of your air.

For laundry, we recommend Seventh Generation, Ecover, or Dr. Bronner's as safer soaps, or make your own laundry soap following our recipe, which uses just water, a bar of soap, borax, and washing soda.

E-Cigarettes

E-cigarettes aren't a safe way to ease yourself off of regular cigs. In fact, they may be worse. Research shows that the vapor contains 10 times as much formaldehyde as cigarette smoke.

How to Avoid It: Sorry, folks, but the answer is a hard one: Quit. Fortunately,research has shown that taking omega-3 supplements can make it easier to give up the smokes, without the negative side effects.

Plastic Bottles

Plastic bottles get a bad rap for containing dangerous bisphenol A, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Research has shown that the most common plastic used in making bottles, polyethelyne terephthatlate, also contains formaldehyde.

How to Avoid It: Ditch the plastic. Opt for products packaged in glass containers instead.

Natural Gas Stoves

While the biggest threat from natural gas stoves is the nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde is also a pollutant coming from your cooktop and oven. Researchers found that homes with a natural gas stove are more likely to have levels of formaldehyde that exceed public health guidelines.

How to Avoid It: Time to make turning on your vent hood a regular practice (not just when you accidentally burn dinner). Ventilating the area is extremely effective at protecting you from pollution.