Formaldehyde was removed from embalmed animal cadavers by pumping ethanol (20%) through the pleural and peritoneal cavities of 4 goats, 4 cows and 4 horses. The goats were percolated intermittently for 7 days and the large animals continuously for 72 h. Just after opening the body cavities, samples of air close to the organs were collected and analyzed for formaldehyde using a spectrofluorimetric method. The concentration of formaldehyde in the air samples was in goats 0.45 ± 0.44 µg/l (mean ± SD), cows 0.42 ± 0.29 µg/l and horses 0.43 ± 0.25 µg/l.