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Seo, Hyun, Oh, Kim, Kim, Kim, Stadlin, Sohn, and Lee: Assessment of Formaldehyde Concentrations in an Anatomy Laboratory Equipped Dissecting Tables with Inbuilt Exhaust and an Air Diffuser/Return System
Original Article

Korean J Phys Anthropol 2016;29(3):113-120.

Published online: 20 January 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.11637/kjpa.2016.29.3.113

Assessment of Formaldehyde Concentrations in an Anatomy Laboratory Equipped Dissecting Tables with Inbuilt Exhaust and an Air Diffuser/Return System

Je Hoon Seo1, Jong-a Hyun1, Min-Kwang Oh1, Ji Young Kim1, Yong-Dae Kim2, Dong-Woon Kim3, Alfreda Stadlin1, Hyun Joon Sohn1, Eun Young Lee1,

1Department of Anatomy, Chungbuk National University College of Medicine

2Department of Preventive Medicine, Chungbuk National University College of Medicine

3Department of Internal Medicine, Chungbuk National University College of Medicine

Correspondence to: Eun Young Lee (Department of Anatomy, Chungbuk National University College of Medicine), Hyun Joon Sohn (Department of Anatomy, Chungbuk National University College of Medicine) E-mail: eylee@chungbuk.ac.kr, hjsohn@chungbuk.ac.kr

Copyright © 2016 Korean Association of Physical Anthropologists

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Formaldehyde (FA) used for preserving the body for anatomy dissection is harmful to the human body. In many countries, for the purpose of protecting the health of workers in the industrial field, the maximal allowable air concentration of FA has been set. The threshold limit values of time weighted average (TLV-TWA) and short-term exposure limit (TLV-STEL) of FA recommended by Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) of Korea are less than 0.5 and 1 ppm, respectively. In the United States and Europe, TLV-TWAs of FA are recommended at between 0.3 and 2 ppm. In this study, we compared the air concentration of FA to domestic and foreign standards of FA in an anatomy laboratory equipped dissecting tables with inbuilt exhaust and an air diffuser/return system.
We installed ten elevated dissection tables, 18 air diffusers on the ceiling, and 10 air returns at the bottom of both side walls. The concentration of FA was measured at five sites in the anatomy laboratory and above the cadavers on the dissecting tables at a height of 1.5 m from the floor using a Formaldemeter.
The average concentration of FA in the anatomy laboratory (five sites) was 0.31 ppm (0.45 mg/m3), range 0.21 to 0.41 ppm (0.26∼0.51 mg/m3). The average concentration of FA above the cadavers was 0.45 ppm (0.56 mg/m3), range 0.31 to 0.64 ppm (0.39∼0.80 mg/m3). The average TWA of FA in the anatomy laboratory was 0.19 ppm (0.24 mg/m3), range 0.13 to 0.26 ppm. The average TWA of FA above the cadavers was 0.28 ppm (0.35 mg/m3), range 0.19 to 0.40 ppm. The anatomy laboratory dissecting tables equipped with inbuilt exhaust and air diffuser/return system met the criteria of the FA concentration recommended by MOEL of Korea and most foreign countries.
This study was the first evaluation of the air concentration of FA in an anatomy laboratory equipped dissecting tables with inbuilt exhaust and an air diffuser/return system in Korea. We expect it will be not only used as a standard of comparison for anatomy laboratories, but as a reference for design and construction to improve air quality in Korean Medical Colleges.

Keywords: Dissection, Cadaver, Ventilation, Air Quality, Safety, MOEL, Standards

References

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Fig. 1.
The layout of the anatomy laboratory. Cn: center, C1–4: corners, T1–10: tables.
kjpa-29-113f1.tif
Fig. 2.
Panorama image of the anatomy laboratory equipped dissecting tables with inbuilt exhaust and an air diffuser/return system.
kjpa-29-113f2.tif
Fig. 3.
Measuring instrument for formaldehyde concentration.
kjpa-29-113f3.tif
Fig. 4.
TWAs of formaldehyde in anatomy laboratory and above cadavers.
kjpa-29-113f4.tif
Table 1.
Formaldehyde concentration.
Measurement area Number of Concentration Range
measures ppm mg/m3 ppm mg/m3
Anatomy Laboratory Center 4 0.38∗ 0.48∗ 0.36∼0.41 0.45∼0.51
Corner 1 4 0.32∗ 0.40∗ 0.29∼0.34 0.36∼0.43
Corner 2 4 0.31∗ 0.38∗ 0.27∼0.34 0.34∼0.42
Corner 3 4 0.31∗ 0.38∗ 0.24∼0.37 0.30∼0.47
Corner 4 4 0.23∗ 0.29∗ 0.21∼0.25 0.26∼0.32
Above Cadaver Table 1 1 0.64 0.80 – –
Table 2 1 0.60 0.76 – –
Table 3 3 0.46∗ 0.57∗ 0.39∼0.59 0.49∼0.74
Table 4 1 0.31 0.39 – –
Table 4 Table 5 1 1 0.31 0.31 0.39 0.39 – –
Table 5 Table 6 1 1 0.31 0.37 0.39 0.46 – –
Table 7 1 0.54 0.68 – –
Table 8 3 0.46∗ 0.58∗ 0.44∼0.50 0.55∼0.62
Table 9 1 0.37 0.46 – –
Table 10 1 0.40 0.50 – –

Asterisks (∗) indicate average values.

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