Leukemia is a class of malignant blood tumors that originate from hematopoietic stem cells and is currently ranked as the sixth most prevalent tumor in China.
The relationship between renovation and the development of leukemia is a concern for many people. There are 5 main types of toxic substances produced in home improvement:
- Formaldehyde
- Benzene
- Ammonia
- Radioactive radon
- TVOC (total volatile organic compounds)
Among them, formaldehyde and benzene are recognized as the major carcinogens.
Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde is the most significant indoor pollutant in most homes. Formaldehyde is an important component of adhesives, so anything that involves adhesives such as:
- Building and renovation raw materials, including synthetic panels, paints (mainly wall base), carpets, and furniture all contain formaldehyde.
- Steps in the decoration process, such as putty glue for wall emulsion paint base, white emulsion glue used for pasting woodworking boards, and wallpaper glue used in gluing wallpaper, can cause the air quality to be substandard by exceeding the standard alone, and even if each product is within range, if there are too many of these building materials containing formaldehyde in the room, the cumulative total can easily exceed indoor air quality standards. For example, the wood of the decoration itself is non-toxic, but its processing using urea-formaldehyde glue gluing, the same will form a source of formaldehyde pollution.
As you can see, adhesives are widely used in interior decoration and are a major source of pollution in renovation.
But the development of leukemia is a chronic cumulative process of atypical proliferation of hematopoietic stem cells caused by the susceptibility of the body, continuous exposure to carcinogenic substances and weakening of the body’s immune surveillance system, which gradually turns into malignant clonal proliferation until the number reaches the threshold of tumorigenesis. No model evidence can be made that formaldehyde directly causes leukemia.
The 2015 study by Checkoway H, even showed that the development of acute myeloid leukemia was not associated with cumulative exposure to formaldehyde. Even so, it does not mean that formaldehyde is not otherwise harmful to the body, and there are several major health risks associated with formaldehyde:
- Irritation of skin and mucous membranes: direct skin contact with formaldehyde can cause allergic dermatitis, discoloration, and necrosis; severe irritation and edema of the respiratory tract and even bronchial asthma when inhaled at high concentrations, as well as eye irritation and headaches;
- High concentrations of formaldehyde are also genotoxic, causing chromosomal mutations and gene mutations in laboratory animals at high levels of inhalation, which in turn can cause nasopharyngeal tumors.
Benzene
Benzene is most strongly perceived because of its strong, pungent odor. Benzene mainly comes from in paints. With the use of environmentally friendly paints and the reduction of paint use, plus the fact that paints evaporate quite quickly and can evaporate more than 70% of harmful substances in three days, it is not used as a major source of pollution. 
But benzene and its derivatives, as early as 1982, were confirmed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) to be a causative agent of human leukemia.
Benzene can cause toxicity in the hematopoietic system, reducing white blood cells and platelets, and in severe cases, aplastic anemia and even leukemia. Several population-based surveys have shown that toluene and xylene exposure increases the risk of developing acute myeloid leukemia.
Summary
However, even if the IARC determines that formaldehyde and benzene have carcinogenic activity, it does not follow that renovation pollution is necessarily carcinogenic or leukemia-causing. The dose and duration of exposure of the organism to carcinogens are very important parameters, and although renovation pollution is a long-term chronic release process, the concentration will get lower as time advances.
The exposure time and dose of residents to decoration pollution is obviously not comparable to that of the occupational decoration population. Paying attention to the safe source of decoration materials, standardized construction and quality control, proper vacancy and ventilation after decoration, not overworking during the decoration period, and paying attention to maintaining a good life style and mindset in general to avoid giving the opportunity for pollutants to attack the organism due to low immunity can significantly reduce the risk of leukemia .
The National Institutes of Health does not have evidence-based medical evidence on renovation pollution and leukemia, and the so-called renovation pollution may cause leukemia is much less well established and definitive than studies that smoking causes lung cancer.