Formaldehyde levels in absorbent paper points through hplc

ABSTRACT

Formaldehyde tablets have been frequently used to keep absorbent paper points sterilized. However, the toxicity of this drug must be considered. The present study aims to determine rates of formaldehyde impregnation in absorbent paper points kept in environments containing formaldehyde tablets. Thus, an accurate analytical methodology requiring simple operations and providing the determination of low concentration levels (ppm) of the formaldehyde impregnated in absorbent paper points was used. The absorbent paper points which had been kept in environments containing formaldehyde tablets were placed in test tubes containing 2.4-dinitrophenylhydrazine and, following an ultrasound bath, were transferred to a microcolumn and washed withdistilled water. The retained hydrazones were diluted in acetonitrile and the amount of 10ml was injected in the High Performance Liquid Chromatographer. The results were subjected to descriptive statistics encompassing the estimation of mean values, the standard deviation, and the confidence interval (95%) for mean values. This study showed a significant rate of formaldehyde impregnation in absorbent paper points of any size, especially in those kept in environments containing formaldehyde tablets over a seven-day period.