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Chemical substance record

Formaldehyde

50-00-0CH2O30.026 g/mol

An aldehyde resulting from the formal oxidation of methanol. — ChEBI

Safety references

Safety documents & references

2 indexed references
US · NIOSH

Occupational chemical safety guide

Formaldehyde

Read official guide
JP · NITE

Government GHS classification

R04-C-056-JNIOSH, MOE · FY2022

View classification

Find a product-specific SDS

Safety guides and government classification records are not a manufacturer’s SDS. Match supplier, product number, concentration, physical form, region and revision before using a document.

Identity & molecular properties

Source-linked values
CAS number50-00-0ChEBI ↗
Molecular formulaCH2OChEBI ↗
Molar mass30.026 g/molChEBI ↗
Monoisotopic mass30.01056 DaChEBI ↗
Formal charge0ChEBI ↗
ChEBI identifierCHEBI:16842ChEBI ↗

Cross-source molecular data

PubChem
Molar mass30.026 g/molPubChem ↗
Exact mass30.010564683 DaPubChem ↗
Computed XLogP1.2PubChem ↗
Topological polar surface area (Ų)17.1PubChem ↗
H-bond donors0PubChem ↗
H-bond acceptors1PubChem ↗
Rotatable bonds0PubChem ↗

PubChem computed values are shown separately from the ChEBI record. An exact InChIKey match was used to connect the records. Molecular descriptors do not describe a supplied product’s purity, particle size or performance.

Names & structural identifiers

Copy any identifier
formaldehyde
formaldehyde
WSFSSNUMVMOOMR-UHFFFAOYSA-N
[H]C([H])=O
InChI=1S/CH2O/c1-2/h1H2

Classification & relationships

ChEBI ontology

Roles recorded in ChEBI

disinfectantcarcinogenic agentallergenmouse metaboliteSaccharomyces cerevisiae metaboliteEscherichia coli metaboliteEC 3.5.1.4 (amidase) inhibitorenvironmental contaminant

Database role annotations describe reported biological or chemical roles; they are not product approvals or recommendations for use.

Safety classification · Japan

NITE / Japanese government
Japan · FY2022 source classification
Formaldehyde · R04-C-056-JNIOSH, MOE
EndpointReported classification
Skin corrosion/irritationCategory 1
Skin sensitizationCategory 1A
Hazardous to the aquatic environment (Acute)Category 2
Hazardous to the aquatic environment (Long-term)Category 3

Selected source-reported endpoints. Other endpoints, rationales and conditions remain in the original classification. Missing or unlisted information does not mean non-hazardous. This is not a global classification or transport decision.

Read the original NITE classification

Mass ↔ amount of substance

Calculated from sourced mass
Equivalent amount
0.0333045 mol

Uses 30.026 g/mol from ChEBI. Assumes the substance described by this record; no purity or concentration correction is applied.

Elemental composition

Theoretical mass fractions
O
Oxygen · 1 atom
53.28%
C
Carbon · 1 atom
40.00%
H
Hydrogen · 2 atoms
6.71%

Calculated theoretical mass fractions from the reported formula and PubChem periodic-table atomic masses. These are not assay or purity results.

Research & patent references

Selected source associations
Formaldehyde-induced shrinkage of rat thymocytes. ↗Journal of pharmacological sciences · 2003 Jan · PMID 12686735

Sources & record history

Checked 27 Sep 2026
EMBL-EBI ChEBI · CHEBI:16842

Release 255, 9 September 2026. ChEBI three-star (manually annotated) source entry. View original record ↗ · CC BY 4.0

NCBI PubChem · CID 712 · retrieved 2026-09-27

PubCAS formats source data, connects references and computes explicitly labelled conversions. CAS cross-references are supplied by ChEBI; they do not constitute CAS verification or endorsement.