Evaluating Students and Instructors’ Exposure to Formaldehyde in an Anatomy Teaching Laboratory

Details

• Personal Author:
  Gibson J ; Nguyen M ; Que Hee S ; Veal R ; Yu N
• Description:
  Objectives: This study looked to 1. Measure ambient levels of formaldehyde in an anatomy laboratory during dissection of cadavers, and 2. Compare results to recommended and regulatory exposure levels. Methods: A Human Dissection Anatomy class was asked to participate in this project. On the first day of laboratory instruction, industrial hygienists measured the participants' exposure to formaldehyde vapor using both a direct-reading instrument and personal breathing zone (PBZ) sampling involving lab instructors. Personal breathing zone sampling was facilitated using a personal pump and silica-gel tubes. Sampling was conducted for the duration of the lab, and an eight-hour Time Weighted Average (TWA) was calculated, assuming no exposure to formaldehyde for the remainder of the day. Another assessment was conducted approximately one month following the initial visit. The same procedures were followed. The cadavers were intact on the first day of lab, and the same cadavers were studied for the duration of the course. Results: Real-time measurements of formaldehyde on the first day occasionally exceeded the ACGIH Short Term Exposure Limit (STEL) of 300 ppb and the Cal-OSHA TWA Action Level of 500 ppb. The maximum instructor TWA on the first day was 43 percent of the Cal-OSHA Permissible Exposure Level (PEL) of 750 ppb. Formaldehyde measurements on the second day did not exceed any occupational exposure limits; a drop of 54 percent on average was observed. Instructors' TWA exposures dropped to 13 percent of PEL on the second day. Conclusions: Exposure to formaldehyde for the duration of this course is not considered to be a significant health hazard for students and instructors. Downdraft tables would serve as an effective engineering control. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Anatomy Environmental Exposure Environmental Monitoring Formaldehyde Laboratories Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Air Sampling Breathing Zone Exposure Levels
• Publisher:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20055862
• Citation:
  AIHce 2013: American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 18-23, 2013, Montreal, Quebec. Falls Church, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 2013 May; :191
• CAS Registry Number:
  Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Performing Organization:
  University of California Los Angeles
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  AIHce 2013: American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 18-23, 2013, Montreal, Quebec
• End Date:
  20270630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:34ba77908387ebcd8bcdc6a82090c6638e811ca7cad432e67091fcd484c8f3786f6dd3d5919d0f8fcb9f90c739243ee90d948c27b203f128aa7f738e084af4fc
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/213623/cdc_213623_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 927.55 KB ]