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Biological specimens preserved in formaldehyde can last for hundreds of years. At Sylmar, some of our older biological dissections have been preserved in Formalin which has a distinct smell.
Formaldehyde is an aldehyde.
Formaldehyde is an aldehyde.
An aldehyde-type molecule is one with a carbon double bonded to oxygen and at least one bond to H. Formaldehyde, also known as Methanal, is the most simple aldehyde, with only a single carbon.
Formaldehyde has lots of industrial applications, but is most notorious for it's role in embalming and preservation of biological species. Formaldehyde cross-links (connects) amino acids, making them resistant to oxidation and breakdown by microbes. This makes it a fantastic preservation agent. Formaldehyde has a low boiling point, so it often combined with water (at 30-40% concentrations) in a mixture known as Formalin.
Biological specimens preserved in formaldehyde can last for hundreds of years. At Sylmar, some of our older biological dissections have been preserved in Formalin which has a distinct smell.
The mechanism of preservation, via cross-linking of amino acids, is very dangerous to living organisms, and has described by the US National Toxicology Program to be "known to be a human carcinogen".[14][15][16] If you are dissecting something preserved in Formaldehyde, try to keep the room ventilated and don't stick around too long!
Known as the "Sleeping Beauty" for her still-life-like appearance, Rosalia Lombardo was only two years old when she died of pneumonia in 1920. Her grieving father hired innovative taxidermist and embalmer Alfredo Salafia to preserve her body, which to this day is on view in a glass-fronted coffin in the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Italy. Salafia used a mixture that contained high levels of Formaldehyde.
One British artist, who used Formaldehyde to preserve large species as part of an art exhibit, got into hot water when it was discovered that his patrons were exposed to dangerously high levels of Formaldehyde fumes. Observers got 10x the legal limit of Formaldehyde fumes, which could have led to further health issues.
One British artist, who used Formaldehyde to preserve large species as part of an art exhibit, got into hot water when it was discovered that his patrons were exposed to dangerously high levels of Formaldehyde fumes. Observers got 10x the legal limit of Formaldehyde fumes, which could have led to further health issues.
August Wilhelm von Hofmann; huffed a lot of Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde was first synthesized in by a Russian chemist, Aleksandr Butlerov, who was trying to make something else. He didn't explore much more about the chemical, but he noted that it wasn't what he was trying to make. Butlerov was notable for being one of the first adopters of chemical structure, and was the first to incorporate double bonds into the drawings, which is appropriate given the double bonded oxygen in Formaldehyde.
Formaldehyde wasn’t conclusively identified until 1868, when August Wilhelm von Hofmann, a professor of chemistry and director of the laboratory of the University of Berlin, set out to clearly establish both the structure and identity of formaldehyde. Hofmann passed a mixture of methanol and air over a heated platinum spiral and then identified formaldehyde as the product. The method that Hoffman used to identify formaldehyde laid the foundation for the modern formaldehyde manufacturing process.
Aleksandr Butlerov didn't even want to find this stuff.
Formaldehyde is produced by the following enzymatic reaction of Methanol:
Formaldehyde is produced by the following enzymatic reaction of Methanol:
2 CH3OH + O2 → 2 CH2O + 2 H2O
2 CH3OH + O2 → 2 CH2O + 2 H2O
While Formaldehyde has a lot of history with embalming, a majority of synthesized Formaldehyde is actually not used for preservation. It is a precursor molecule to tons of other products, including resins, polymers, and is even found in dry cleaning solvent. So it's a good thing it was discovered!
Beware of formaldehyde fumes if you get a blowout!
Beware of formaldehyde fumes if you get a blowout!
According to the FDA, a hair straightening or smoothing solution is usually applied to human hair followed by a heat treatment that seals the solution in. These products often contain formaldehyde, also known as formalin and methylene glycol. When the solution is heated, the formaldehyde in the products is released into the air as a gas. If the salon is not properly ventilated, both the salon professionals and their clients are at risk of inhaling the released formaldehyde. Yikes!
What happens if Formaldehyde gets inside of your body?
What happens if Formaldehyde gets inside of your body?
Alcoholics desperate for a drink might accidently drink Methanol or Ethylene Glycol with major impacts
In small doses, our livers will metabolize Formaldehyde into Formic Acid. Formic acid causes a ton of problems with mitochondria and retinal and optic-nerve toxicity. If you consume too much methanol (wood alcohol) or formaldehyde, you'll likely go blind.
Why would anyone drink Methanol or Formaldehyde? During US prohibition in the 1920's, many black market Ethanol dealers (Ethanol is the alcohol in wine/beer/liquor which was outlawed) would spike their product with cheap Methanol to cut costs. According to historians, the US Government had required industrial producers to make more concentrated Methanol, to try to prevent this black marking spiking. Instead, it just increased the amount of health problems for people trying to get their alcohol fix illegally, and was a contributing factor to the cessation of prohibition.
In 2018, a hospital error caused one woman going in for a routine surgery to be "embalmed alive".
In 2018, a hospital error caused one woman going in for a routine surgery to be "embalmed alive".
In Ulyanovsk, a city in western Russia, 28-year-old Ekaterina Fedyaeva had been diagnosed with ovarian cysts and was advised that she needed a routine laparoscopic procedure to remove the cysts. During the operation, medical personnel made a tragic and irreparable mistake: instead of administering saline solution, they mistakenly gave Fedyaeva formalin, a solution that contains formaldehyde. Despite washing her abdominal cavity, Fedyaeva's organs all began to fail. On life-support machines, she told her mother "Mom, I'm dying", before losing consciousness. Unable to flush the toxins from her body, she passed away 14 hours later. All doctors and personnel associated with the operation were dismissed and Investigations are ongoing.
Early lithographic developer, used to process pictures chemically etched into stone, contained formaldehyde.
Early lithographic developer, used to process pictures chemically etched into stone, contained formaldehyde.
For the digital generation, we preserve more information and memories via photographs than in any generation before. Sometimes, we preserve more than we want to...
For the digital generation, we preserve more information and memories via photographs than in any generation before. Sometimes, we preserve more than we want to...
...and just like formaldehyde, it can be dangerous!
...and just like formaldehyde, it can be dangerous!
In 2012, a Burger King employee made a joke post on 4Chan by standing in the store's lettuce bins, taking a picture, and was posting it online with the caption, "This is the lettuce you eat at Burger King."
What the poster didn't realize is that he left in important META/EXIF data in his photo, that contained a number of details about the picture, including the GPS location. Internet detectives found his restaurant within minutes, reported the event to his managers, and he got fired within the day.
Be careful of what you post online.
Be careful of what you post online.
Many photos contain META/EXIF data that can be used to track the pictures EXACT GPS location.
For privacy concerns, some platforms like Facebook, scrub that META data from uploaded pictures. If you send a picture directly to someone, though, they can potentially track you down.
...that doesn't mean you shouldn't share things online, though!
...that doesn't mean you shouldn't share things online, though!
Digital communication has become a huge way in which we connect and relate with each other. Our government agrees, and has officially recognized sites like "Know Your Meme" and "Urban Dictionary" as culturally relevant artifacts to be preserved in the Library of Congress. They will be storing these documents on government servers indefinitely, no Formaldehyde required. So share your experiences and repost those memes that you connect with; it might just become the history that your grandkids ask you about. Just be safe about how you do it. Knowledge is safety!
I'd rather be in Vietnam.
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This was when the boots thing or something protest was going on (most people were too scared to walk out the gate as seen in the pic or just went home lol)
The plan was to walk out when the lunch bell rang... but everyone just stopped and stared at each other when it did ROFL
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