Analysis of Formaldehyde in Fisheries Products

In this study, formaldehyde in various fisheries products was previously derivatized with acetylacetone and subsequently analyzed by using HPLC-PDA. The formaldehyde contents ranged from 0.07 to 73.74 mg/kg. The compound was significantly higher in both mollusks (0.34-12.38 mg/kg) and crustaceans (0.09-73.74 mg/kg) than in fish (0.07-3.35 mg/kg) and shellfish (0.50-3.90 mg/kg). This difference was due to storage time and temperature. In general, fish and shellfish are sold live or in refrigerated form with shorter a shelf-life, but mollusks and crustaceans are distributed in cold or frozen systems with a longer shelf-life. Using food intake data from a report of the National Health and Nutrition Survey, the daily human exposure level to formaldehyde was 0.58% of the ADI. The results from this study might provide fundamental information to confirm naturally-originating or fraudulent formaldehyde treatment in fisheries products.