Observations on the effects of formaldehyde on cockroaches and their flora: II. Prolonged survival of cockroaches drinking formaldehyde or glutaraldehyde solutions.

Adult cockroaches were found to survive up to 22 weeks when provided with 1% Formalin (0.4% formaldehyde) in lieu of drinking water. Given 4% Formalin or 2% glutaraldehyde they survived up to 41 days. During the experiments eggs were laid and hatched and the offspring continued to grow. Combined with surface disinfection, this may hold out a simple method of rendering adult cockroaches gnotobiotic or even axenic.