Effect of relative humidity on the penetrability and sporicidal activity of formaldehyde

The effect of relative humidity (RH) on formaldehyde penetration of paper, glassine, and cotton was determined by the death rate of bacterial spores in glass tubes covered with these materials. The data show that paper is readily penetrated regardless of RH, but the RH greatly affects the penetration rate of glassine and cotton. A comparison was also made of the effect of RH on the penetrability of formaldehyde generated from Formalin and paraformaldehyde. At low RH, all three closures were penetrated more readily by formaldehyde from paraformaldehyde than from Formalin, but no difference in the two was observed at high RH. It is felt that the difference at low RH is primarily due to the condensation of the vaporized Formalin.