The Effect Of Indoor Air Formaldehyde On The Formaldehyde And Glutathione Levels In Human Blood

The formaldehyde is one of the most important indoor air pollutants. The effects of formaldehyde on human health include many aspects, such as DNA damages, hypersensitivity, et al. At present, few studies focus on the changes of the formaldehyde level and metabolic process in human body after interior decoration.In this study,we have collected vein blood samples of 120 residents whose house were decorated. According to the time of decoration, residents were divided into exposure group and reference group. The residents whose houses were decorated less than one year were in the exposure group. The residents whose houses were decorated more than one year were in the reference group. According to the age and gender, the residents were divided into adult man group, adult woman group, teenagers group, old man group and old woman group. The concentrations of glutathione(GSH) in bloods were measured with luminosity method. The levels of formaldehyde in sera were determined with acetyl acetone method, AHMT method and gaseous phase chromatogram method. After analysis, we found that there wass a significant difference in the concentrations of formaldehyde in sera between exposure and control group. The concentrations of formaldehyde in sera were the lowest in teenagers' group but highest in old woman's group. As to the levels of Glutathionein bloods, there was no significant difference between exposure and control group. There was no significant difference in each age groups either.As a metabolic product in human body, the formaldehyde keeps a certain level in the serum. According to the results, indoor air formaldehyde could influence the concentrations of serum formaldehyde in residents, especially in old ones. The levels of GSH in bloods changed after decoration, but the variation was low. Perhaps GSH is reduced by an unknown mechanism so that the levels of it could bestable in human body. The negative relevant of the formaldehyde and Glutathione levels in blood means that the formaldehyde in blood may consume the endogenous sulfhydryl- base.