Eye irritation response of humans to formaldehyde

Human panelists sensitive to formaldehyde eye irritation were exposed to low concentrations of formaldehyde vapor (0.35 to 1.0 ppm) for 6 minutes. Eye irritation was evaluated by time to detection of the first trace of irritation and by subjective ranking of severity. Both time to response and severity appeared to be functions of formaldehyde concentration. Severity of response was above "slight" only with highest test concentration, 1.0 ppm.