mfety in the chemkol loborotory
edited by MALCOLMM. RENFREW University of Idaho MOSCOW, Idaho 83843
Atmospheric Formaldehyde Levels in an Academic Laboratory John C. Clausz, Bruce A. Maclntyre, Elizabeth S. Malone, and John M. Twelmeyer Department of Biology, Carroll College, Waukesha, WI 53186
Formaldehyde is a readily polyrnerizable gas which is commercially available as a 3760% aqueous solution and may contain up to 15% methanol t o inhibit polymerization. This commercial product is called formalin. Formaldehyde has many uses and is often found in fertilizers, dyes, disinfectants, germicides, embalming fluids, nonfood preservatives, plastics, woad products, gasoline exhaust, tobacco smoke, and insulating materials. Formaldehvde seems t o be ubiauit l m ; thpreforr, i t s r e m i prubnhle that every humnn h ~ i n rin : modern i n o u ~ t r ~ n l ~ zna. ed rions is at least r r a n i i t n t l y cxpowd ~ u g a i e u u s formaldehyde. The harmful effets of exposure t o high levels of formaldehyde are well established and have resulted in the establishment of
John C. Clausr is a 1962 graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University who earned his MA and PhD degrees at the University of No& Carolina at Chapel Hill. He came to Carroll College in 1979, currently is an Associate Professor, and has taught general biology, plant physiology, microbiology, and instrumentation courses. His research interest is fungal lipids. Bruce A. Maclntyn is a 1963 graduate of Carroll College who earned hlsPhDdegree at Indiana University studying thermoregulation. Since returning to Carroll College in 1968, he has taught general physiology, cell biology, and bioethicscourses. Currently he is Chairman of the Biology Department and Professor of Biology. Elizabeth Mslone is a 1983 graduate of Carroll College who currently is a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in the Department of Soil Science. JOhnTwelrneyer is a 1983 Carroll graduate who will be entering the Medical College of Wisconsin in the fall of 1984.
permissible exposure limits by OSHA (1). Health hazards due to exposure include eye irritation, nasal discharge, skin burns, and nausea. More recent concern was aroused when formaldehyde was shown to be a carcinogen in two studies, onesponsored by the formaldehyde industry and one by New York University (2). One proposal for mode of action of formaldehyde--damage t o DNA and to DNA repair mechanism-has been presented (3).Another problem was created by the use of urealformaldehvde foam as a rel~
counted by the pump and the stroke volume, the volume of air sampled was calculated. In order to determine background levels of formaldehyde, the room was sampled for formaldehyde prior t o positioning oftheanimals. One hour after setting the roam up with the desired type of preserved-animal
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s t i t r l y inrxpmawe, easily i n d l r d , and ~ f firirnt home i n i u l n f ~ m R . m n a l d r h y d r l~vels in :tir freqwnrlv hnw c u e c d ~ ds w n d a r d i i r t
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ence the "stinky" biology laboratory or by student complaints of eye irritation or hand rashes. The purpose of this study was to determine whether improved ventilation and use of "formaldehyde-free" specimens could reduce the levels of formaldehyde in air t o which students and faculty would be exposed.
Materials and Methods Formaldehyde-preserved and "formaldehyde-free" fetal pigs (7-9 in.) and bullfrogs ( P 5 in.) were supplied by a scientificsupply company. The animals were removed from their container, and their chest cavities were opened and rinsed with water just prior t o use. The pigs or frogs were placed a t 16locations throughout the biology laboratory as indicated in Figure 1. The laboratory is 293.37 m3 (12.45 X 6.85 X 3.40 m). Unfortunately the formaldehyde-preserved pigs were not of uniform size, so equal amounts of body weight of these pigs were placed in the laboratory where indicated Figure 1. Two Sipin SP-1 personal monitoring pumps were positioned in the laboratory, one 30.5 cm above a specimen and one 183 cm above the floor (see Fig. 1). Standard alumina ahsorbant tubes were inserted into the sampler and air was drawn over the alumina for one-half hour. From the number of strokes
Figure 1. Laboratory conditions for the experiment. 0 =position of frogs and farmaldehyde-free pigs. 0 = position of formaldehyde-treated pigs. Dark stippling = partial ventilation with door open and wlndow~open 30.5 cm. Light stippling = door open. windows open 61 cm, and oscillating fan on. i? = table-top sampling. 0 = 183 cm sampling.
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and ventilation conditions, the air was sampled for a one-half how period. The sequence for animal type analysis was formaldehydefree pigs, farmaldehyde-treated pigs, f o m aldehyde-free frogs, then formaldehydetreated frogs with at least one-day delay hetween animal tvoe. ~
