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Formaldehyde linked to Lou Gehrig's disease

New preliminary research suggests that exposure to the chemical formaldehyde, present in workplaces from laboratories to hospitals to MDF factories, could greatly increase a person's chances of developing Lou Gehrig's disease. Study author Marc Weisskopf, assistant professor of epidemiology and environmental health at Harvard School of Public Health, said formaldehyde exposure hadn't previously been considered a risk factor for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS - the alternative medical name for Lou Gehrig's). The findings were released this week at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting in Chicago. ALS causes loss of the ability to control muscles, usually causing paralysis and is rapidly fatal. Weisskopf and his colleagues examined statistics from an American Cancer Society study of more than 1 million people who were followed for 15 years. The researchers first examined the participants' responses in 1982 to questions about exposure to 12 different chemicals, including formaldehyde. Then they followed up between 1989 and 2004 to see what happened to those people. The researchers found that 617 men and 539 women died of ALS during the study period. Only those who reported exposure to formaldehyde had a higher risk - 34 per cent higher - of developing ALS. Those who reported more than 10 years of exposure to formaldehyde were almost four times more likely to develop ALS. Formaldehyde is also a group 1 carcinogen, the highest category for cancer risk.

• Marc Weisskopf and others. Prospective study of chemical exposures and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mortality, AAN Meeting 2008; Abstract # S25.005. AAN news release [pdf] and video report. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. MedPage Today.

Briefing document (300 words) issued 25 Apr 2008