Formaldehyde: Carcinogenic Potency Database

Formaldehyde (CAS 50-00-0)
SMILES, InChI and Structure are below.
Rats and Mice: Cancer Test Summary

Rat Target Sites		Mouse Target Sites		TD₅₀ (mg/kg/day)
Male	Female	Male	Female	Rat	Mouse
hmo nas	hmo nas	nas	no positive	1.35^m,v	43.9

Hamsters: Cancer Test Summary

Hamster Target Sites		TD₅₀ (mg/kg/day)
Male	Female	TD₅₀ (mg/kg/day)
no positive	no test	no positive

Key to the Table Above

Positivity: For each chemical with a positive (carcinogenic) experiment in the Carcinogenic Potency Database (CPDB), results are included on carcinogenic potency (TD₅₀) in each species and target sites in males and females. Positivity is determined by an author’s opinion in a published paper. If all experimental results in the CDPB are negative in a sex-species group, “no positive” appears. If the CPDB has no experiments in the sex-species group, “no test” appears. The summary presents the strongest evidence of carcinogenicity in each group. If there are both positive and negative experiments in a sex-species, the negative results are ignored in this Summary Table.

Target Site Codes: hmo = hematopoietic system. nas = nasal cavity (includes tissues of the nose, nasal turbinates, paranasal sinuses and trachea). Target sites are listed if any author of published experimental results concluded that tumors were induced in that organ by the test agent. If there is more than one positive experiment in a sex-species, target sites listed may be from more than one experiment, e.g. if liver and lung are both listed, then liver may have been a target in one experiment and lung in another.

TD₅₀: Our standardized measure of carcinogenic potency, TD₅₀, is the daily dose rate in mg/kg body weight/day to induce tumors in half of test animals that would have remained tumor-free at zero dose. Whenever there is more than one positive experiment in a species, the reported TD₅₀ value is a Harmonic Mean calculated using the TD₅₀ value from the most potent target site in each positive experiment.

Superscripts: m = There is more than one positive experiment in the species, and TD₅₀ values from each positive experiment are used in the calculation of the reported Harmonic mean of TD₅₀. v = Variation is greater than ten-fold among statistically significant (two-tailed p<0.1) TD₅₀ values from different positive experiments.

The Carcinogenic Potency Database (CPDB) is a unique and widely used international resource of the results of 6540 chronic, long-term animal cancer tests on 1547 chemicals. The CPDB provides easy access to the bioassay literature, with qualitative and quantitative analyses of both positive and negative experiments that have been published over the past 50 years in the general literature through 2001 and by the National Cancer Institute/National Toxicology Program through 2004. The CPDB standardizes the diverse literature of cancer bioassays that vary widely in protocol, histopathological examination and nomenclature, and in the published author’s choices of what information to provide in their papers. Results are reported in the CPDB for tests in rats, mice, hamsters, dogs, and nonhuman primates.

For each experiment, information is included on species, strain, and sex of test animal; features of experimental protocol such as route of administration, duration of dosing, dose level(s) in mg/kg body weight/day, and duration of experiment; experimental results are provided on target organ, tumor type, and tumor incidence; carcinogenic potency (TD₅₀) and its statistical significance; shape of the dose-response, author’s opinion as to carcinogenicity, and literature citation.

Only tests with dosing for at least ¼ the standard lifespan of the species and experiment length at least ½ the lifespan are included in the CPDB. Only routes of administration with whole body exposure are included. Doses are standardized, average dose rates in mg/kg/day. A description of methods used in the CPDB to standardize the diverse literature of animal cancer tests is presented for: 1) Criteria for inclusion of experiments 2) Standardization of average daily dose levels and 3) TD₅₀ estimation for a standard lifespan. See Methods for other details.

TD₅₀ provides a standardized quantitative measure that can be used for comparisons and analyses of many issues in carcinogenesis. The range of TD₅₀ values across chemicals that are rodent carcinogens is more than 100 million-fold. More than half the chemicals tested are positive in at least one experiment.

A plot of all results on each experiment in the CPDB for this chemical is presented below. These results are the source information for the Cancer Test Summary table above.

Formaldehyde: All Experiments and Citations in CPDB

The definition of each code in the plot below will appear in a pop-up window when the field name in the header line is clicked, e.g., Strain, Site, Path. Each numbered line starts a new experiment and reports protocol information in black. Average daily dose-rates per kg body weight per day are in green. Remaining lines report experimental results in blue.

Abbreviations of fields in header line: # = the line number in the plot of all CPDB chemicals; Xpo = duration of dosing; Xpt = duration of experiment; Site = tissue; Path = tumor type; DR = dose-response; AuOp = author’s opinion about carcinogenicity; LoConf, UpConf = confidence limits (99%) on TD₅₀; Inc = tumor incidence for each dose group.

See Guide to reading the plot for details on each field, using an example of one experiment.

See Help to improve readability, or to fit the plot onto the screen or a printed page.



Chemical (Synonym) CAS
# Species Sex Strain Route Xpo+Xpt PaperNum        0 Dose  1 Dose 2 Dose  3 Dose          Literature Reference or NCI/NTP:Site Path
Site Path Notes   TD50  DR Pval    AuOp LoConf UpConf   Cntrl   1 Inc  2 Inc   3 Inc                                                        Brkly Code



FORMALDEHYDE   50-00-0
2890 H m syg inh 94w94 1414m                         0    .772mg                                            Dalbey;txcy,24,9-14;1982
 res tum r      no dre   P=1.    -  6.50mg n.s.s.   0/50    0/50
2891 H m syg inh 25m25 1414n                         0    1.29mg
 res tum rs     no dre   P=1.    -  25.6mg n.s.s.   0/132   0/88
2892 M f b6c inh 52w52 1566a                         0    .772mg  2.32mg  5.79mg                         Pavkov;ciit;1981/Kerns 1983
 nas tum ek     no dre   P=1.       .271mg n.s.s.   0/10    0/10    0/10    0/10
 lun tum ek     no dre   P=1.       2.98mg n.s.s.   0/10                    0/10
 liv tum ek     no dre   P=1.       2.98mg n.s.s.   0/10                    0/10
2893 M f b6c inh 78w78 1566b                         0    .772mg  2.32mg  5.79mg
 nas tum ek     no dre   P=1.       1.21mg n.s.s.   0/20    0/20    0/20    0/19
 liv mix ek     no dre   P=1.       8.42mg n.s.s.   2/20                    1/19
 lun tum ek     no dre   P=1.       12.8mg n.s.s.   0/20                    0/19
2894 M f b6c inh 24m24 1566c                         0    5.79mg
 lun mix ek     47.3mg   P<.3       10.9mg n.s.s.   1/30    3/27
 liv mix ek     98.7mg   P<.6       14.4mg n.s.s.   1/30    2/28
 nas tum ek     no dre   P=1.       3.10mg n.s.s.   0/30    0/26    0/41    0/28
2895 M f b6c inh 24m27 1566m                         0    .686mg  2.06mg  5.15mg
 nas tum e      no dre   P=1.       6.06mg n.s.s.   0/50    0/54    0/39    0/54
 lun mix e      no dre   P=1.       44.5mg n.s.s.   1/50                    1/54
 liv tum e      no dre   P=1.       72.5mg n.s.s.   0/50                    0/54
2896 M m b6c inh 52w52 1566a                         0    4.83mg
 liv hpc ek     7.85mg   P<.3       1.28mg n.s.s.   0/10    1/10
 lun tum ek     no dre   P=1.       2.49mg n.s.s.   0/10    0/10
 nas tum ek     no dre   P=1.       .226mg n.s.s.   0/10    0/10    0/10    0/10
2897 M m b6c inh 24m24 1566c                         0    .644mg  1.93mg  4.83mg
 ntu sqc es     43.9mg * P<.04   +  10.8mg n.s.s.   0/20    0/22    0/19    2/17
 liv mix es     34.5mg   P<.2       9.67mg n.s.s.   4/62                    6/40
 lun mix es     no dre   P=1.       6.53mg n.s.s.   6/25                    4/18
2898 R f f34 inh 52w52 1566n                         0    .184mg  .552mg  1.38mg
 nas tum ek     no dre   P=1.       64.6ug n.s.s.   0/10    0/10    0/10    0/10
 liv tum ek     no dre   P=1.       .710mg n.s.s.   0/10                    0/10
2899 R f f34 inh 78w78 1566o                         0    .184mg  .552mg  1.38mg
 ntu sqc ek     3.67mg * P<.005  +  1.27mg 33.9mg   0/20    0/20    0/20    4/19
 liv nnd ek     192.mg   P<1.       1.81mg n.s.s.   1/20                    1/19
 ntu pla ek     no dre   P=1.       3.23mg n.s.s.   0/20    1/20    0/20    0/19
2900 R f f34 inh 25m25 1566r :                       0    .184mg  .552mg  1.38mg
 ntu sqc s      1.37mg Z P<.0005 +  .952mg 2.06mg   0/78    0/79    1/76   48/73
 ntu pla s      7.95mg Z P<.4       1.25mg n.s.s.   0/78    3/79    0/76    1/73
 liv nnd es     no dre   P=1.       4.13mg n.s.s.   1/67                    0/14
2901 R m f34 inh 52w52 1566n                         0    .129mg  .386mg  .965mg
 nas tum ek     no dre   P=1.       45.2ug n.s.s.   0/10    0/10    0/10    0/10
 liv tum ek     no dre   P=1.       .497mg n.s.s.   0/10                    0/10
2902 R m f34 inh 78w78 1566o                         0    .129mg  .386mg  .965mg
 ntu sqc ek     2.57mg * P<.005  +  .886mg 23.8mg   0/20    0/20    0/20    4/19
 ntu pla ek     5.39mg * P<.2       1.32mg n.s.s.   0/20    0/20    1/20    1/19
 liv tum ek     no dre   P=1.       2.24mg n.s.s.   0/20                    0/20
2903 R m f34 inh 24m24 1566r :                       0    .129mg  .386mg  .965mg
 ntu sqc s      .798mg Z P<.0005 +  .510mg 1.23mg   0/79    0/80    1/79   47/73
 ntu pla s      3.01mg * P<.03      1.10mg n.s.s.   1/79    4/80    5/79    3/73
 liv mix es     no dre   P=1.       2.85mg n.s.s.   4/74                    1/22
2904 R m f34 inh 52w52 2279m :                       0    45.0ug  .129mg  .386mg  .643mg  .965mg  Monticello;canr,56,1012-1022;1996/
                                                                                                                CIIT 1999/pers.comm.
 nas sqc Ckr    2.37mg * P<.06      .582mg n.s.s.   0/12    0/12    0/12    0/12    0/10    2/16
2905 R m f34 inh 80w80 2279n :                       0    45.0ug  .129mg  .386mg  .643mg  .965mg
 nas sqc Ckr    .895mg * P<.0005 +  .422mg 2.61mg   0/10    0/11    0/12    0/12    3/10    6/11
2906 R m f34 inh 24m24 2279o :                       0    45.0ug  .129mg  .386mg  .643mg  .965mg
 nas sqc Cr     .480mg Z P<.0005 +  .357mg .656mg   0/46    0/48    0/48    1/48   19/47   71/97
2907 R m f3d inh 52w52 2445m                         0    19.3ug  .129mg  .965mg              Kamata;jtxs,22,239-254;1997/pers.comm.
 nas tum ek     no dre   P=1.       4.25ug n.s.s.   0/5     0/5     0/5     0/5
2908 R m f3d inh 78w78 2445n                         0    19.3ug  .129mg  .965mg
 nas mix ek     .874mg * P<.02      .210mg n.s.s.   0/5     0/5     0/5     2/5
2909 R m f3d inh 27m28 2445o                         0    19.3ug  .129mg  .965mg
 nas mix ae     .980mg * P<.0005 +  .512mg 2.17mg   0/22    0/22    0/22   14/20
 nas sqc ae     1.24mg * P<.0005 +  .628mg 2.94mg   0/22    0/22    0/22   12/20
 nas sqp ae     10.0mg * P<.03      2.46mg n.s.s.   0/22    0/22    0/22    2/20
2910 R f sda wat 24m34 BT7001                        0    .410mg  2.05mg  4.10mg  20.5mg  41.0mg  61.5mg   Soffritti;txih,5,699-730;
                                                                                                                                1989
 --- leu er     815.mg * P<.04   +  316.mg n.s.s.   3/50    2/50    4/50    4/50    4/50    7/50    7/50
 --- lls er     996.mg * P<.03   +  386.mg n.s.s.   1/50    1/50    3/50    2/50    2/50    5/50    5/50
 git mix er     2.96gm * P<.2    +  753.mg n.s.s.   0/50    1/50    2/50    0/50    0/50    1/50    3/50
2911 R f sda inh 24m24 2205                          0    1.14mg                                     Holmstrom;acot,108,274-283;1989
 nac sqc er     12.1mg   P<.3       1.97mg n.s.s.   0/15    1/16
2912 R m sda wat 24m34 BT7001                        0    .359mg  1.79mg  3.59mg  17.9mg  35.9mg  53.8mg   Soffritti;txih,5,699-730;
                                                                                                                                1989
 --- lls er     424.mg * P<.0005 +  213.mg 1.73gm   4/50    0/50    2/50    4/50    4/50    6/50   11/50
 --- leu er     480.mg * P<.01   +  213.mg 63.8gm   5/50    1/50    5/50    5/50    8/50    6/50   11/50
 git mix er     1.41gm * P<.02   +  517.mg n.s.s.   0/50    2/50    0/50    0/50    0/50    1/50    5/50
2913 R m sda inh 28m28 1674                          0    .952mg                                     Sellakumar;txap,81,401-406;1985
 nac sqc e      1.82mg   P<.0005 +  1.22mg 2.86mg   0/99   38/100
 nac car e      86.4mg   P<.3    +  14.1mg n.s.s.   0/99    1/100
 nac fbs e      86.4mg   P<.3    +  14.1mg n.s.s.   0/99    1/100
 liv hpc e      no dre   P=1.       16.0mg n.s.s.   1/99    1/100
2914 R f wal wat 24m24 1918                          0    1.80mg  21.0mg  109.mg                              Til;fctx,27,77-87;1989
 for exp e      no dre   P=1.    -  16.7mg n.s.s.   1/48    0/49    0/47    0/48
 stg tum e      no dre   P=1.    -  16.7mg n.s.s.   0/48    0/49    0/47    0/48
 liv hpc        no dre   P=1.    -  17.2mg n.s.s.   0/50    0/50    0/50    0/50
 pit het        no dre   P=1.    -  410.mg n.s.s.   6/50   11/50    3/50    7/50
 tba mix        no dre   P=1.    -  136.mg n.s.s.  37/50   38/50   32/50   34/50
 tba ben        no dre   P=1.    -  144.mg n.s.s.  34/50   37/50   25/50   32/50
 tba mal        no dre   P=1.    -  418.mg n.s.s.   9/50    9/50    7/50    7/50
2915 R m wal wat 24m24 1918                          0    1.20mg  15.0mg  82.0mg
 stg tum e      no dre   P=1.    -  10.4mg n.s.s.   0/47    0/45    0/44    0/47
 for exp e      no dre   P=1.    -  913.mg n.s.s.   0/47    1/45    0/44    0/47
 liv hpc        no dre   P=1.    -  981.mg n.s.s.   0/50    1/50    0/50    0/50
 tba mix        no dre   P=1.    -  182.mg n.s.s.  33/50   27/50   30/50   24/50
 tba ben        no dre   P=1.    -  242.mg n.s.s.  28/50   22/50   26/50   18/50
 tba mal        no dre   P=1.    -  263.mg n.s.s.   8/50    6/50    8/50    7/50
2916 R m wal inh 28m29 1926                          0    6.21ug  62.1ug  .621mg                         Woutersen;japt,9,39-46;1989
 nac sqc r      42.9mg * P<.7    -  4.83mg n.s.s.   0/30    1/30    1/30    1/30

Mutagenicity in Salmonella: positive
SMILES Code for Formaldehyde: C=O
InChI Code for Formaldehyde: InChI=1/CH2O/c1-2/h1H2
Source for SMILES and InChI: USEPA Distributed Structure-Searchable Toxicity (DSSTox) Database

Chemical Structure for Formaldehyde:

Source for structure: National Library of Medicine ChemIDPlus

See full CPDB Summary Table on 1547 chemicals. See Full CPDB for all results on 6540 experiments of 1547 chemicals.

A complete list of CPDB chemicals, which is searchable by name or by CAS number, is available here.

For a compendium of CPDB results organized by target organ, which lists all chemicals in each species that induced tumors in each of 35 organs, see Summary Table by Target Organ.

The CPDB is available in several formats that permit printing and downloading into spreadsheets and statistical databases.

A plot of the CPDB presents results of 1547 experiments on 6540 chemicals in an easily readable format that has been used in publications of the CPDB.
A Screen version plot for use on a single computer screen, with the same data.
Excel version of the same data.
Tab-separated versions of the same data, which can be easily read into databases.

A Supplementary Dataset gives details on dosing and survival for each experiment.

Relatively precise estimates of the lower confidence limit on the TD₁₀ (LTD₁₀) are readily calculated from the TD₅₀ and its lower confidence limit, which are reported in the CPDB. For researchers and regulatory agencies interested in LTD₁₀ values, we provide them in an Excel spreadsheet.

PDF versions of our publications of analyses using the CPDB are available, organized by year and by research topic.

Carcinogenic Potency Database Project (CPDB) Home Page
For more information about this Web Page, contact slone.cpdb@gmail.com.
Last updated: October 3, 2007