This false color image shows the formaldehyde factory in Parkersburg, West Virginia, capable of making 28 million pounds of the stuff in a single batch. It’s really an amazing facility. Google Maps resolution lets us down for this one again, but TerraServer has the real deal.
Formaldehyde, which most people remember from the preserved specimens in science class, is ranked as one of the most hazardous chemicals to human health. In the U.S., this stuff is used in many industries including the manufacture of leather, circuit boards, laboratory chemicals, paper coatings, rubber, and many other items. According to the EPA:
Formaldehyde is a suspected human carcinogen and has been shown to produce mutations and abnormal organisms in bacterial studies. Formaldehyde fumes are liberated from plywood, particleboard, and chipboard, as well as urea formaldehyde foam insulation. Symptoms associated with exposure to formaldehyde fumes include mucous membrane irritation, upper respiratory tract irritation, eye irritation, skin rashes, itching, nausea, stuffy nose, headaches, dizziness, and general fatigue.
Recent Comments