Formic acid is mainly used as a preservative and antimicrobial agent in livestock feed. In Europe it is used for silage, including fresh hay, to promote lactic acid fermentation and inhibit the formation of butyric acid; It can also ferment rapidly at lower temperatures, thus reducing the loss of nutritional value. Formic acid is widely used to preserve winter feed for cattle because it prevents certain decay processes and allows feed to retain its nutritional value longer. In the poultry industry, it is sometimes added to feed to kill E. coli. Used as a preservative in silage and (other) animal feed, accounting for 30% of global consumption in 2009.
Due to its acidity, formic acid is also widely used in leather production, including tanning (23% of global consumption in 2009) and dyeing and finishing textiles (9% of global consumption in 2009). Rubber used as a coagulant consumed 6% of global production in 2009.
Formic acid is also used instead of mineral acid in a variety of cleaning products, such as scale removers and toilet cleaners. Some formates are artificial flavors and fragrances.
Beekeepers use formic acid as an acaricide against the trachea mite (Acarapis woodi) and Varroa destructor mite and Varroa Jacobsoni mites.
Formic acid is reported to be an effective treatment for warts.
Formic acid can be used in fuel cells (either directly or indirectly in hydrogen fuel cells).
Isobutanol can be produced from carbon dioxide using microorganisms using formic acid as an intermediate.
Formic acid has potential applications in welding because of its ability to reduce the oxide layer, formic acid gas can be sprayed on the oxide surface to increase the wettability of the solder.
Formic acid is commonly used as a mobile phase component in reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) analysis and separation techniques for the separation of hydrophobic macromolecules, such as peptides, proteins, and more complex structures, including intact viruses. Especially when used in conjunction with mass spectrometry, formic acid has many advantages over phosphoric acid.
