# What does formaldehyde turn into when incinerated? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 11, 2018, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-formaldehyde-turn-into-when-incinerated/824363 "2018-11-11T20:09:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-formaldehyde-turn-into-when-incinerated/824363/1 "2018-11-11T20:09:54Z")
Simple chemistry question - I can’t find the answer - what does formaldehyde turn into when exposed to high heat, such as a flame or hot coil? ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-formaldehyde-turn-into-when-incinerated/824363/2 "2018-11-11T20:16:57Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Simple chemistry question - I can’t find the answer - what does formaldehyde turn into when exposed to high heat, such as a flame or hot coil? > [@](#): > > It is a byproduct of combustion and certain other natural processes, and so is also found in: > > Emissions from un-vented, fuel burning appliances, like gas stoves or kerosene space heaters. > Cigarette smoke. > **[Facts About Formaldehyde | US EPA](https://www.epa.gov/formaldehyde/facts-about-formaldehyde#whatisformaldehyde)** > > Formaldehyde is a chemical used widely by industry to manufacture building materials and numerous household products. It is also a by-product of combustion and certain other natural processes. Since it’s a byproduct of combustion, and has already been exposed to high heat, the answer seems to be it doesn’t turn into anything- it continues to be formaldehyde. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-formaldehyde-turn-into-when-incinerated/824363/3 "2018-11-11T21:03:48Z")
There are quite a lot of reactions when exposed to combustion conditions / temperatures. This paper has a good summary : [Experimental and modeling study of formaldehyde combustion in flames - ScienceDirect](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S001021801200020X) These are some of the reactions (note Many of these are free radicals) 1. CH2O+M=HCO+H+M 2. CH2O+M=CO+H2 +M 3. CH2O+O2 =HCO+HO2 4. CH2O+O=HCO+OH 5. CH2O+OH=HCO+H2O 6. CH2O+H=HCO+H2 7. CH2O+HO2=HCO+H2O2 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-formaldehyde-turn-into-when-incinerated/824363/4 "2018-11-11T21:25:40Z")
Just a word of warning – were you planning on doing this as a practical, rather than a theoretical, experiment, I think that an awful lot of the formaldehyde will end up evaporating rather than cumbusting. Gaseous formaldehyde in quantity will cause your eyes to sting something awful. We speaks from experience. (Formaldehyde, by the way, used to be the basis of Air-Wick and other solid room deodorizers. Formaldehyde polymerizes into a sort of soapy solid form, _paraformaldehyde_, which depolymerizes slowly at room temperature. If you bury perfumes in the mass, it’ll slowly release them. They stopped using paraformaldehyde as a base when it turned out to be a carcinogen. Now solid deodorizers use something else. If you make the polymer chains extra long and terminate them in something other than hydroxides, you get acetal plastic – a pretty tough and useful plastic (they make K’NEX building toys out of it) ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-formaldehyde-turn-into-when-incinerated/824363/5 "2018-11-11T22:44:43Z")
When I worked for the NHS, it was a regular job for one of my drivers to transport organs (body parts not musical instruments) from a hospital to the main Path Lab. They were put in formaldehyde in plastic pails, about 25 litres. The top of the pails was simply snapped on, so it’s no surprise that when he was involved in a minor collision and the pail fell over, it burst open. What was a surprise was that the Fire and Rescue people promptly treated the thing as a serious hazard and our van was parked up with tape all around it for several hours until they declared it safe. The driver had to leave the windows open wide for a few days as the smell made him nauseous. The liver that was in the pail was, of course, past its sell-by date and had to be incinerated. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-formaldehyde-turn-into-when-incinerated/824363/6 "2018-11-12T00:11:48Z")
**am77494** , what’s the “M” in those equations? An arbitrary metal? ---
**Author:** ![EckyThump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@EckyThump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EckyThump)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-formaldehyde-turn-into-when-incinerated/824363/7 "2018-11-12T11:30:57Z")
The M is for an inert molecule that doesn’t react with the reactants, but is still required somehow. CH2O+M=HCO+H+M The ‘M’ here is a molecule that absorbs excess energy from the products, to stabilize them. Otherwise, in their excited states, they may recombine into Formaldehyde. Edit: From my view at least, I seem to have posted the reply 41 minutes before the question was asked. Is that a record? ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-formaldehyde-turn-into-when-incinerated/824363/8 "2018-11-12T12:45:06Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > [Facts About Formaldehyde | US EPA](https://www.epa.gov/formaldehyde/facts-about-formaldehyde#whatisformaldehyde) > > Since it’s a byproduct of combustion, and has already been exposed to high heat, the answer seems to be it doesn’t turn into anything- it continues to be formaldehyde. It’s a minor byproduct of incomplete combustion. Burn it oxygen and you’ll primarily get CO[sub]2[/sub] and water. Pyrolyze it and you’ll primarily get CO and H[sub]2[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-formaldehyde-turn-into-when-incinerated/824363/9 "2018-11-12T13:50:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Edit: From my view at least, I seem to have posted the reply 41 minutes before the question was asked. Is that a record? You must have had the window open overnight (i.e., from before midnight to after it) before replying. When the page was loaded, my post was timestamped “Today, 07:11 PM” (or whatever is appropriate for your timezone). When you used the quick reply, it didn’t change anything else on the page, but showed your post as “Today, 06:30 AM”. So in other words, you weren’t 41 minutes before me, but 12 hours, 41 minutes before me… but it’s just because it didn’t change my timestamp from “Today” to “Yesterday” when the day rolled over. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-formaldehyde-turn-into-when-incinerated/824363/10 "2018-11-12T14:24:15Z")
Your mention of a “hot coil” suggests your question is related to ecigs. If you’re looking for the straight dope this article may lead you to the right answer. [New CDC study officially debunks ‘vaping and formaldehyde’ myth](https://www.vapes.com/blogs/news/new-cdc-study-officially-debunks-vaping-and-formaldehyde-myth) > [@](#): > > In 2015, a mysterious report was published in the New England Journal of Medicine claiming that the vapor from electronic cigarettes is filled with formaldehyde. The paper was quickly rebuked by several world-class scientists including Dr. Michael Siegel of the Boston University School of Public Health. Experts in scientific protocols overwhelmingly agreed that the co-authors of the bogus report either intentionally or accidentally cranked up the heating temperatures of the vaping technology used in the experiment to alarmingly unrealistic levels, which resulted in the tainted formaldehyde statistics.