Evaluation of Formaldehyde in residential indoor air at Taman Seri Bintong Maju, Kangar, Perlis

Abstract

Formaldehyde is one of hazardous pollutant which is frequently detected in the indoor air environment. It has been classified as carcinogenic to humans referring to previous human epidemiology and toxicology studies. To gauge the level of risk of this pollutant in residential indoor air in Perlis, a small suburb located at Taman Seri Bintong Maju, Kangar was selected for this purpose. A total of 16 houses were selected and this monitoring was conducted in bedroom and living room of the houses. Concurrently, the air monitoring at outdoor environment was also conducted to identify source characteristics. The average formaldehyde concentrations in the residential houses in ranged between 30.6 to 85.8 µg/m³. Likewise, the formaldehyde concentration at outdoor environment at residential areas ranged between not detectable to 85.8 µg/m³. These results suggested that the source of formaldehyde may come from inside of the houses such as furniture and building materials. The high formaldehyde concentration in the residential indoor air suggested a high intake value for adults and childrens ranged between 5.52 to 15.5 µg/kg/day and 8.91 to 25 µg/kg/day, respectively. To gauge the level of risk on humans associated with the exposure level, a cancer risk on formaldehyde using USEPA techniques was conducted. The cancer risk estimated in this study ranged between 39.9×10-4 to 11.1×10-3. Referring to the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), the residents at Taman Seri Bintong Maju are at higher risk from exposure of this pollutant in the residential indoor air.