Biological markers for formaldehyde exposure in mortician students. Report I: documentation of measurement methodology for characterizing extent of exposure.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Boeniger, Mark F. ; Stewart P
• Description:
  A methodology used to determine airborne formaldehyde (50000) exposure in mortician students performing embalmings was evaluated. Prior to field testing, a laboratory study was conducted to evaluate the performance of a passive diffusion device in determining formaldehyde concentrations. The passive diffusion device and the NIOSH active air sampling method provided comparable formaldehyde determinations in a dynamic vapor generation chamber with a total analyte load of at least 8 part per million hours. Field sampling studies under static air conditions revealed a negative bias and a higher imprecision among the passive monitors compared to the active sampling methods. Field tests under more turbulent air conditions resulted in continued negative bias, but similar precision. The bias observed between the passive diffusion device and the active air sampling methods may have been related to newly recognized forms of airborne formaldehyde. An average bias value calculation was used to adjust the subsequent extent of exposure study data obtained from the passive diffusion device. The authors conclude that the continuous reading passive diffusion device used to determine formaldehyde exposure performed in general agreement to the NIOSH active sampling methods, and could be used to monitor short term elevations in formaldehyde levels.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Biochemistry Coloring Agents Energy Metabolism Food Handling Food Industry Hazardous Substances Naphthalenesulfonates Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Air-monitoring Air-sampling-equipment Analytical-methods Field-Study IWS-125-27 NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Survey Occupational-exposure Region-5
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Studies ; Industry Wide
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-55
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00209884
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, IWS 125-27, 1992 May; :1-55
• CAS Registry Number:
  Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1992
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:354b83860cec6af911f8098723ba922385a9a7a8f6a83408d7cdf6ca756a939b636c0bc2fe417ed2e41f023a0b5e3e0defcd29a4cce54423747f5895910f7706
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/180770/cdc_180770_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 7.97 MB ]