Development of colorimetric reagents and easy monitoring devices for the selective detection of formaldehyde and their practical uses

Formaldehyde (HCHO) is used in the workplace and comes from an adhesive used in the manufacture of resins, plastics, coatings, and fabrics. HCHO emitted from the furniture and walls in the rooms injures the eyes, nose and respiratory organs, and causes allergies, which is called the Sick building syndrome. We designed and synthesized new colorimetric HCHO-sensing molecules that possess an enaminone structure. As an application of a sensing molecule, a hand-held instrument to monitor indoor HCHO gas (FP-30) and formaldehyde test paper (Dr. Sick House) has been developed and is commercially available. The present paper describes technical explanations about the sensing molecule and monitoring devices, as well as their trends.