House Bill 2680, Room #329, 8 AM Friday:

Honorable Rep. Josh Green, M.D., Chair,
and Honorable John Mizuno, Vice Chair:

Please copy as committee handout for this hearing.


Subjective symptoms of medical students exposed to formaldehyde during a
gross anatomy dissection course, Wei CN et al, Center for Policy Studies,
Kumamoto University, Japan, Int J Immunopathol Pharmacol. 2007 Apr. Murray
2008.02.12
http://rmforall.blogspot.com/2008_02_01_archive.htm
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1519


1 ppm formaldehyde in air = 1.23 mg/cubic meter,
so breathing 20 cubic meters, living in mobile homes,
would retain about 20 mg formaldehyde daily,
ten times the 1999 EPA alarm level for daily drinking water.

The medical students had symptoms for a few hours per school day
of this level of exposure.

Probably the study did not consider formaldehyde exposure
from dark wines and liquors, tobacco and wood smoke,
aspartame, new buildings, vehicle exhaust, and many other sources.


Int J Immunopathol Pharmacol. 2007 Apr-Jun; 20(2 Suppl 2): 23-5.
Subjective symptoms of medical students exposed to formaldehyde during a
gross anatomy dissection course.
Wei CN, cnwei@...;
Harada K,
Ohmori S,
Wei QJ,
Minamoto K,
Ueda A.
Center for Policy Studies, Kumamoto University, Japan.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the safety of and to try to
find the best plan to cope with exposure to FA for students during a
gross anatomy dissection course.

The FA exposure level and subjective symptoms were estimated.
The relationship between exposure to FA and subjective symptoms of
irritation were discussed for these times;
before, in the beginning period, in the middle period,
and upon completion of the Anatomy Dissection Course.

The geometric means of FA concentration were
32.7 micrograms/m3 (before), [ 0.03 mg/m3 ]
891.3 micrograms/m3 (beginning), [ 0.9 mg/m3 ]
763.3 micrograms/m3 (middle), [ 0.8 mg/m3 ]
and 238.9 micrograms/m3 (completion), respectively. [ 0.2 mg/m3 ]

Among them, FA-related symptoms were observed in 61.1 percent;
28.0 percent felt strong stress during the course,
and 27.4 percent complained that their normal life situation was affected.

Our results indicate that such subjective symptoms during the anatomy
dissection course were related to the period spent in the anatomy
dissection room.

Our study suggests that shortening the time of each anatomy dissection
practical class, and reduction of the number of cadaver tables could help
to reduce symptoms. PMID: 17903352


FEMA slow to safety test Katrina toxic trailers, Charles Babington,
Associated Press -- 1 ppm formaldehyde in air is about half the daily dose
from 3 cans aspartame diet soda and ten times the 1999 EPA alarm level for
drinking water: Murray 2007.07.23 [ also, more recent research ]
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1455


" Paulison said FEMA received "just over 200 complaints of strange
odors including formaldehyde" in trailers and that 58 trailers were
replaced "because of formaldehyde concerns."

Occupants of five other trailers were moved to apartments, he said.

Several lawmakers said FEMA should have seen the 200 complaints as a
sign of a much wider problem. "


1 ppm formaldehyde in air is half the daily dose
from 3 cans aspartame diet soda
and ten times the 1999 EPA alarm level for drinking water.

J. D. Trasher et al in 1990 found many symptoms
in 19 mobile home residents,
living with 0.05 to 0.5 ppm formaldehyde.

http://www.drthrasher.org/formaldehyde_1990.html full text
Jack Dwayne Thrasher, Alan Broughton, Roberta Madison.
Immune activation and autoantibodies in humans
with long-term inhalation exposure to formaldehyde.
Archives of Environmental Health. 1990; 45: 217-223.
"Immune activation, autoantibodies, and anti-HCHO-HSA antibodies
are associated with long-term formaldehyde inhalation."
PMID: 2400243

" The patients in our study had symptoms and complaints
related to several organs, as described previously, (4,5,9)
which were similar to symptoms
of workers with multiple chemical sensitivity,(11) cacosmia,(12)
and other chemical exposures. (13-15)

We report on the differences in
humoral and cell-mediated immunity in humans with long-term inhalation
exposure to HCHO vs. asymptomatic students (controls) who experienced
short-term, periodic exposure to the chemical. "

" All patients in this study
had sought continuous medical attention
because of multiple organ symptoms
involving the central nervous system (CNS)
(headaches, memory loss, difficulty completing tasks, dizziness),
upper- and lower-respiratory symptoms,
skeletal-muscle complaints,
and gastroenteritis.

Three common symptoms were expressed:
(1) and initial flu-like illness
from which they had not fully recovered;
(2) chronic fatigue,
and (3) an olfactory sensitivity to ambient conditions
containing low concentrations of chemicals. (4,9,11) "

" (2.) Mobile home residents consisted
of 19 patients (6 males, 13 females, mean age 41 +-20 y)
who currently lived in mobile homes.

The patients had lived in their environments for 2-7 y
and reported multiple symptoms. (4,9)

Measured HCHO concentrations ranged from 0.05 to 0.5 ppm
at the time blood samples were taken. "


FEMA found 1.2 ppm formaldehyde in April 2005
in one of over 120,000 mobile homes
supplied for recent hurricane victims --
75 times more than the
0.016 level set for 8-hour working days
by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
for workers to be required to wear respirators.

http://www.arb.ca.gov/toxics/tac/appendxc.htm

1 ppm FA in air = 1.23 mg/cubic meter, so breathing 20 cubic meters
would retain about 20 mg FA daily, ten times the 1999 EPA alarm level
for drinking water.

Dark wines and liquors, as well as aspartame, provide similar levels
of methanol, above 120 mg daily, for long-term heavy users, 2 L daily,
about 6 cans.

Within hours, methanol is inevitably largely turned into formaldehyde,
and thence largely into formic acid -- the major causes of the dreaded
symptoms of "next morning" hangover.

Fully 11% of aspartame is methanol --
1,120 mg aspartame in 2 L diet soda,
almost six 12-oz cans, gives 123 mg methanol (wood alcohol).
If 30% of the methanol is turned into formaldehyde,
the amount of formaldehyde, 37 mg, is 18.5 times the USA EPA
alarm limit for daily formaldehyde in drinking water,
2.0 mg in 2 L average daily drinking water.

Medicine has to consider that the many sources of methanol and
formaldehyde are additive co-factors.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1286
methanol products (formaldehyde and formic acid)
are main cause of alcohol hangover symptoms
[same as from similar amounts of methanol, the 11% part of aspartame]:
YS Woo et al, 2005 Dec: Murray 2006.01.20

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1143
methanol (formaldehyde, formic acid) disposition:
Bouchard M et al, full plain text, 2001:
substantial sources are degradation of fruit pectins,
liquors, aspartame, smoke: Murray 2005.04.02

Rich Murray, MA Room For All rmforall@...
505-501-2298 1943 Otowi Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505

http://RMForAll.blogspot.com new primary archive

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/messages
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