ABSTRACT
Background: The safety of healthcare workers exposed to formaldehyde remains a great matter of concern for healthcare management units. This work aimed at describing the results of a combined monitoring approach (environmental and biological) to manage occupational exposure to formaldehyde in a hospital setting.
Design and Methods: Environmental monitoring of working spaces and biological monitoring of urinary formaldehyde in 16 exposed healthcare workers of the Anatomic Pathology Unit of a University Hospital in Southern Italy was performed on a four-year timescale (2016-2019).
Results: Values of aero-dispersed formaldehyde identified were on average low; although workers’ urinary formaldehyde levels were also minimal, the statistical analysis highlighted a slight weekly accumulation.
Conclusions: Our data confirm that both environmental and biological monitoring are important to identify risk situations, in particular when values of hazardous compounds are below the accepted occupational exposure levels.
REFERENCES
Lewis BB, Chestner SB. Formaldehyde in dentistry: a review of mutagenic and carcinogenic potential. J Am Dent Assoc 1981;103:429-34. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14219/jada.archive.1981.0341
Wartew, GA The health hazards of formaldehyde. J Appl Toxicol 1983;3:121-6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jat.2550030303
World Health Organisation. Formaldehyde Chapter 5.8. In: Air Quality Guidelines. Copenhagen WHO, Regional Office for Europe; 2001.
Restani P, Galli CL. Oral toxicity of formaldehyde and its derivatives. Crit Rev Toxicol 1991;21:315-28. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3109/10408449109019569
Ruyter IE. Release of formaldehyde from denture base polymers. Acta Odontol Scand 1980;38:17-27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3109/00016358008997715
Heck HD, Casanova-Schmitz M, Dodd PB, et al. Formaldehyde (CH2O) concentrations in the blood of humans and Fischer-344 rats exposed to CH2O under controlled conditions. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 1985;46:1-3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15298668591394275
International Agency for Research on Cancer. IARC classifies formaldehyde as carcinogenic to humans. World Health Organization, Press Release n°153-2004.
Swenberg JA, Moeller BC, Lu K, et al. Formaldehyde carcinogenicity research: 30 years and counting for mode of action, epidemiology, and cancer risk assessment. Toxicol Pathol 2013;41:181-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0192623312466459
Beall JR, Ulsamer AG. Formaldehyde and hepatotoxicity: A review. J Toxicol Environ Health 1984;14:1-21. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15287398409530560
Tulpule K, Dringen R. Formaldehyde in brain: an overlooked player in neurodegeneration? J Neurochem 2013;127:7-21. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jnc.12356
Shi SR, Liu C, Taylor CR. Standardization of Immunohistochemistry for formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections based on the antigen-retrieval technique: from experiments to hypothesis. J Histochem Cytochem 2007;55:105-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1369/jhc.6P7080.2006
Motta O, Cucciniello R, Scicali C, Proto A. A study on the applicability of zinc acetate impregnated silica substrate in the collection of hydrogen sulfide by active sampling. Talanta 2014;128:268-72. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2014.04.031
Cucciniello R, Proto A, La Femina R, et al. A new sorbent tube for atmospheric NOx determination by active sampling. Talanta 2017;164:403-6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2016.12.006
Cucciniello R, Proto A, Rossi F, et al. An improved method for BTEX extraction from charcoal. Anal Methods 2015;7:4811-5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C5AY00828J
Motta O, De Caro F, Quarto F, Proto A. New FT-IR methodology for the evaluation of 13C/12C isotope ratio in Helicobacter pylori infection diagnosis. J Infect 2009;59:90-4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2009.06.006
Cucciniello R, Proto A, Alfano D, Motta O. Synthesis, characterization and field evaluation of a new calcium-based CO2 absorbent for radial diffusive sampler. Atmos Environ 2012;60:82-7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.06.023
Proto A, Cucciniello R, Rossi F, Motta O. Stable carbon isotope ratio in atmospheric CO2 collected by new diffusive devices. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2014;21:3182-6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-2369-3
Motta O, Cucciniello R, La Femina R, et al. Development of a new radial passive sampling device for atmospheric NOX determination. Talanta 2018;190:199-203. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2018.07.088
European Committee for Standardization. Diffusive samplers for the determination of concentrations of gases and vapours – requirements and test methods. Part 2. Specific requirements and test methods. Norm EN 13528-2.
National Istitute for Occupational Safety and Health. NIOSH Manual of Analytical Method (NMAM). 2016. Accessed: September 4, 2020. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nmam/default.html
Gentry PR, Rodricks JV, Turnbull D, et al. Formaldehyde exposure and leukemia: critical review and reevaluation of the results from a study that is the focus for evidence of biological plausibility. Crit Rev Toxicol 2013;43:661-70. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3109/10408444.2013.818618
Italian Ministry of Health. Official Communication n. 57 of 22 June 1983. Uses of formaldehyde – Risks associated with possible methods of use.
Government of Italy. Legislative Decree n. 81 of 9 April 2008. Coordinated text with Legislative Decree n. 106 of 3 August 2009.
Most read articles by the same author(s)
- Bruno Charlier, Albino Coglianese, Federica De Rosa, Francesco De Caro , Ornella Piazza, Oriana Motta, Anna Borrelli, Mario Capunzo, Amelia Filippelli, Viviana Izzo, Chemical risk in hospital settings: Overview on monitoring strategies and international regulatory aspects , Journal of Public Health Research: Vol 10 No 1 (2021)