Product Description
Formaldehyde is the most basic and structurally simplest aldehyde compound, characterized by vigorous chemical activity and inherent toxic properties. Under ambient temperature, it appears as a colorless gaseous substance with a pungent irritating smell, and is prone to polymerization reaction to generate polyformaldehyde polymers.
This chemical substance possesses excellent miscibility, being easily dissolved in water, alcohols and a wide range of organic solvents. Industrially and environmentally, formaldehyde mainly derives from fuel combustion, industrial production activities, architectural decorative materials and daily consumer goods, covering extensive emission scenarios.
Product Parameters
| Melting point | -15°C |
| Boiling point | 97°C(37% solution),-19.5°C(pure) |
| density | 1.09 g/mL at 25 °C(lit.) |
| vapor density | 1.03 (vs air) |
| vapor pressure | 52 mm Hg ( 37 °C) |
| refractive index | n20/D 1.377 |
| Fp | 133 °F |
| storage temp. | room temp |
| solubility | water: soluble |
| form | Solution |
| pka | 13.27(at 25℃) |
| color | APHA: ≤10 |
| Odor | Pungent odor detectable at 1 ppm |
| PH | pH (25℃) : 7.0～7.5 |
| Odor Threshold | 0.5ppm |
| Water Solubility | soluble |
λmax | λ: 260 nm Amax: 0.01 |
| λ: 280 nm Amax: 0.01 | |
| Merck | 144235 |
| BRN | 1209228 |
| Henry's Law Constant | 2.08(x 10-7 atm?m3/mol) at 25 °C (flow-type generation system, spectrophometry, Kanda et al., 2005) |
| Dielectric constant | 23.0（Ambient） |
| Exposure limits | NIOSH REL: TWA 0.016 ppm, 15-min C 0.1 ppm, IDLH 20 ppm; OSHA PEL: TWA 0.75 ppm, STEL 2 ppm. |
| InChIKey | WSFSSNUMVMOOMR-UHFFFAOYSA-N |
| LogP | 0.35 |
| CAS DataBase Reference | 50-00-0(CAS DataBase Reference) |
| IARC | 1 (Vol. Sup 7, 62, 88, 100F) 2012 |
| NIST Chemistry Reference | Formaldehyde(50-00-0) |
| EPA Substance Registry System | Formaldehyde (50-00-0) |
Safety Information
| Hazard Codes | T |
| Risk Statements | 23/24/25-34-40-43-39/23/24/25-68-45-68/20/21/22 |
| Safety Statements | 36/37-51-45-36/37/39-26-53 |
| RIDADR | UN 1198 3/PG 3 |
| OEB | E |
| OEL | TWA: 0.016 ppm, Ceiling: 0.1 ppm [15-minute] |
| WGK Germany | 2 |
| RTECS | LP8925000 |
| F | 10 |
| Autoignition Temperature | 424 °C for formalin containing 15% methanol |
| TSCA | Yes |
| HazardClass | 3 |
| PackingGroup | III |
| HS Code | 29121100 |
Hazardous Substances Data | 50-00-0(Hazardous Substances Data) |
| LD50 oral (rat) 500 mg/kg | |
| LD50 skin (rabbit) 270 mg/kg | |
| LC50 inhal (rat) 203 mg/m3 (2 h) | |
| PEL (OSHA) 1 ppm (1.5 mg/m3) | |
| TLV-TWA (ACGIH) 0.3 ppm (ceiling)(0.37 mg/m3) | |
| STEL (OSHA) 2 ppm (2.5 mg/m3) | |
| IDLA | 20 ppm |
Application Scenarios
Sterilization and Antiseptic Use
Formaldehyde features powerful reducing activity and superior bactericidal performance. It is widely deployed for human disinfection, animal antisepsis and environmental fumigation, serving as a classic efficient sterilizing agent for biological and sanitary applications.
Resin & Polymer Manufacturing
As a core fundamental organic chemical material, formaldehyde is predominantly adopted for synthesizing various high-performance resins. Its mainstream applications cover phenolic resin, urea-formaldehyde resin, melamine resin and polyoxymethylene production, which are essential for plastic and polymer industries.
Fine Chemical Synthesis
It acts as a key intermediate for manufacturing multiple fine chemical products, including MDI, pentaerythritol, hexamethylenetetramine and butanediol, supporting the production of diversified chemical additives and synthetic materials.
Laboratory & Special Scenarios
Beyond industrial synthesis, formaldehyde is commonly used for chromatographic analysis testing. It also serves for biological specimen immersion and preservation, as well as specialized industrial disinfection and anti-corrosion treatment.
