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Human exposure to formaldehyde and health risk assessment: a 46-year systematic literature review

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Abstract

After confirming that formaldehyde (FA) is carcinogenic, many studies were conducted in different countries to investigate this finding. Therefore, according to the dispersion of related studies, a bibliometric review of the current literature was performed with the aim of better understanding the exposure to FA and the resulting health risk, for the first time, using the Scopus database and the two open-source software packages, Bibliometrix R package. After screening the documents in Excel, the data was analyzed based on three aspects including performance analysis, conceptual structure, and intellectual structure, and the results were presented in tables and diagrams. A total of 468 documents were analyzed over period 1977–2023, in which 1956 authors from 56 countries participated. The number of scientific publications has grown significantly from 1977 (n = 1) to 2022 (n = 19). Zhang Y., from the Yale School of Public Health (USA), was identified as the most impactful author in this field. The Science of the Total Environment journal was identified as the main source of articles related to exposure to formaldehyde by publishing 25 studies. The United States and China were the most active countries with the most international collaboration. The main topics investigated during these 46 years included “formaldehyde” and “health risk assessment”, which have taken new directions in recent years with the emergence of the keyword “asthma”. The present study provides a comprehensive view of the growth and evolution of studies related to formaldehyde and the resulting health risks, which can provide a better understanding of existing research gaps and new and emerging issues.

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The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran

    Amir Hossein Khoshakhlagh

  2. Department of Health in Emergencies and Disasters, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mahdiyeh Mohammadzadeh

  3. ARGANS, 260 Route du Pin Montard, Biot, France

    Pierre Sicard

  4. INCDS “Marin Drăcea”, 077030, Voluntari, Romania

    Pierre Sicard

  5. OB and HRM Group, International Management Institute New Delhi, New Delhi, India

    Umesh Bamel

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AHK Conceptualization, data curation, investigation, methodology, project administration, supervision, validation, visualization, writing—review and editing. MM conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, project administration, validation, visualization, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing. PS investigation, validation, writing—review and editing. UB software, methodology.

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Khoshakhlagh, A.H., Mohammadzadeh, M., Sicard, P. et al. Human exposure to formaldehyde and health risk assessment: a 46-year systematic literature review. Environ Geochem Health 46, 206 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-024-02004-4

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