ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly discusses the application, chemical properties and physical properties of formaldehyde. It presents detailed information on the air analysis and water analysis of formaldehyde. Formaldehyde constitutes about 50" of all aldehydes present in air. It is soluble in water and organic solvents, and flammable, toxic and carcinogenic. During water analysis, aqueous samples of formaldehyde are analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using a post column reaction detector. Formaldehyde may be analyzed by several techniques involving gas chromatography (GC), colorimetry, polarography, HPLC, and GC/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). During air analysis, air is drawn through a solid sorbent tube containing 10" (2-hydroxymethyl) piperidine. Then, oxazolidine derivative of formaldehyde is formed and desorbed into toluene under ultrasonic conditions. Formaldehyde and several other low molecular weight aldehydes and ketones containing 1 to 7 C atoms can also be determined by the modified method, US EPA To 11A (US EPA).
