the.com/formaldehyde
The smell of preservation — it stops decay by murdering the bacteria that cause it.
means A pungent gas (used dissolved in water as formalin) that kills microbes and hardens tissue proteins, making it a go-to for disinfecting, embalming, and preserving lab specimens.
from Chemists built the name from its parts: 'formic acid' (from Latin formica, 'ant', since the acid was first isolated by distilling ants) plus the suffix '-aldehyde', itself a 19th-century contraction of Latin 'al(cohol) dehyd(rogenatum)' — 'alcohol deprived of hydrogen', describing the reaction that makes aldehydes. So the word is a little chemistry equation in disguise: ant-acid chemistry plus dehydrogenated alcohol equals the stuff that keeps things from rotting.
- everyday exposure
- your own cells produce it metabolizing normally
- embalming use
- locks proteins together so tissue stops rotting
- building hazard
- off-gasses from pressed wood and some glues
- classification
- IARC lists it as a known human carcinogen