of the phosphoric acid and subsequent 10 minute mixing period the phenolic resin solution was maintained 75 u00b0 c at this temperature the ph of the phenolic resin solution was adjusted to 4 34 by the addition of a small amount of 25 naoh solution after the naoh addition the protective colloid celvol 205 u00ae celanese chemicals dallas tex a polyvinylalcohol pva was added evenly over a 30 minute period in an amount representing about 7 85 by weight of the combined amount of bisphenol a and 50 wt formaldehyde solution initially charged in preparing the phenolic resin an aqueous dispersion was then formed by blending the resulting mixture comprising the phenolic resin coupling solvent and protective colloid with water while the temperature of the mixture was maintained at 80 u00b0 c the water was added gradually with stirring over a 1 hour period and the amount of added water represented about 34 by weight of the total dispersion weight the resulting dispersion temperature was maintained at 80 u00b0 c for an additional 1 hour such that the phenolic resin was held at this temperature for nearly 3 hours after the dispersion was cooled to room temperature it had a measured viscosity of 5600 cp and a solids content of 45 6 by weight however sampling of this dispersion revealed that it contained 0 78 by weight of free formaldehyde which exceeded the target level of 0 1 by weight again as in comparative example 1 it is believed that the ineffectiveness of resorcinol as an aldehyde scavenger in phenolic resin dispersions of the present invention is due to excessive reaction with the resin itself rather than with the far smaller residual amounts of free formaldehyde present in this resin the ineffectiveness.