The National Institute of Health announced that the strong-smelling chemical formaldehyde may cause cancer. Styrene, the second widely used chemical in the manufacture of food containers and fibreglass, is also listed under carcinogenic agents.

NIH said that people whose works force them to be in constant exposure to formaldehyde are at higher risks for rare kinds of cancer. The rare forms of cancer include those that involve the upper respiratory tract.

Formaldehyde is used to manufacture industrial products such as paper coating and textile and plastic materials. Also, they are openly used as laboratory preservatives to stop corpse from decaying. Lastly, they may also be used in commercial products such as hair straitening solutions.

The government already announced that Styrene is one of the components of tobacco or cigarette smoke. NIH backed that statement up by saying that cigarette smoke is the main source of Styrene.

The two chemicals, among eight other chemicals, were added to the government’s list of chemical and/or biological products that may cause cancer.

Included in the list is the aristolochic acid which is already proven to increase the risk for bladder and urinary tract cancers. The United States Food and Drug Administration already banned the sale of products with aristolochic acid components but it is still illegally sold online.

The American Cancer Society already said that not all carcinogens automatically cause cancer; it still depends on the rate of exposure. They further said that only 8% of cancers are caused by environmental exposure and the majority are caused by occupation-exposure.