[Examination related to revised test method for determination of formaldehyde, regulated by the law for the control of household products containing harmful substances].

In Japan, the amount of formaldehyde in textile products was regulated by the low for the control of household products containing harmful substances. Formaldehyde was determined by measuring the optical density of acetylacetone derivative of formaldehyde extracted from textiles. The household products low stated that the increase in the optical density of color development of the extract from the textile products for babies or infants within 24 months after birth should not be more than 0.05. Collaborative study decided the amount of formaldehyde equivalent to the increase in absorbance described above, and the amount was 16 ppm. There are some reports that formaldehyde causes an allergic reaction even at a very low concentration, so continuous regulation for formaldehyde in the textiles was desirable using this level of amount. We developed HPLC method for the determination of formaldehyde in textile products. Formaldehyde was determined by the direct injection of acetylacetone derivative of samples into the system equipped with ODS column and UV-VIS detector (detection wavelength 413 nm) using the mixture of acetonitrile and water as mobile phase. The linearity was obtained between a peak area or height and the concentrations of formaldehyde solution in the range of 0.0625-2 micrograms/ml. The regulation level was sufficiently detected by the present HPLC method. We recommended that the HPLC test was adopted as a reexamination method for the products may violate the regulation as well as a dimedone test.