Regulation limiting the amount of occupational exposure to formaldehyde
Formaldehyde Rule
The monitoring of a person for the purpose of identifying changes in health status due to occupational exposure to chemicals hazardous to health
medical surveillance
Components of medical surveliance (7)
- pre-employment and pre-placement medical exam
- bio monitoring and bio effect monitoring
- health effects monitoring
- investigation of occupational diseases and poisoning
- notification of occupational disease and poisoning
- assist in disability assessment
- return to work exam after medical treatment removal protection
Potential health hazards (2)
- acute
2. chronic
Acute health hazards (4)
- exposure to eyes; redness, drying, irritated, contact lenses
- exposure to skin; drying, cracking, scaling-dermatitis, skin sensitization
- inhalation; irritates upper respiratory, inflammation of nose, throat and lungs
- swallowing; throat irritation, highly poisonous, will cause death
symptoms of exposure to formaldehyde ; Acute (9)
- eyes, nose, throat irritation
- insomnia
- headaches, dizziness
- depression, memory loss
- fatigue
- nausea, diarrhea
- chest pain
- rashes
- asthma
Chronic health hazards (2)
- carcinogenicity ; studies shown may cause cancer in humans
- toxicity ; said to be poisonous
Signs and symptoms of formaldehyde (7)
- irritation of the mucosa of the eyes, nose, and throat
- at 0.1 can occur ^
- at 100 ppm immediate danger for life and health - swelling of eyelids
- respiratory disorders, coughing, shortness of breath
- allergic reactions
- frequent headaches, dizziness, drowsiness
- jaundice
- brusing easily
employee reporting (3)
- must report to employer any signs/symptoms of potential exposure
- must be annually offered a Medical disease questionnaire for physicians review
- procedures are to be followed even if test level is below the permissible PEL and STEL
Medical removal protection (2)
- employees who suffer significant adverse effects from formaldehyde exposure must be removed to jobs with less exposure until their condition improves
- employee benefits can continue for up to 6 months or until a physician determines employee will never be able to return
- a colorless, strong smelling, gas used in making building materials and many household products.
- used in pressed-wood products, glues and adhesives; paper product coatings and insulation materials.
- quickly broken down in air; within hours. dissolves easily in water, but doesn’t last long.
- called formalin when dissolved in water; used as industrial disinfectant.
- occurs naturally in the environment
formaldehyde gas
Used by OSHA to express a health or physical hazard. Indicates the level of harmful or toxic substance activity which requires medical surveillance, increased industrial hygiene monitoring or biological monitoring.
- the trigger for the need for further testing
- level for Formaldehyde is 0.5ppm per 8 hour time weighted average
action level
-0.75 parts formaldehyde per million parts of air
measured as an 8 hour time weighted average
permissible exposure limit
-2 ppm which is the maximum exposure allowed during a 15 minute period
Short term exposure limit
STEL
- this id’s all employees that are expose to areas above the action leve
- accurately determine the exposure of each employee
- initial monitoring needs to be repeated for every change in production, equipment, process, personal, or control measure that may result in additional exposure to formaldehyde
initial monitoring
- unnecessary if exposure level is maintained below STEL and Action level
- employer must promptly monitor employee exposure upon receiving reports of formaldehyde related signs and symptoms
Additional monitoring
Compliance methods (2) - OSHA rules
- specific
2. controls
- in addition to keeping good record and monitoring exposure levels to be in compliance every prep room needs ;
- emergency shower and eyewash station
- OSHA requires that emergency showers and eyewash stations be located IN the prep room.
- station must be in 25 feet of workstation
- clearly marked, well lit, and easily accessible
- one step operation
- water should be cool to cold
- must not be used for any other purpose
- stations to be checked on regular basis to insure proper working condition
Specific OSHA compliance
controls for compliance methods (11)
- have adequate air exchange
- keep lid on embalming machine
- keep caps on all bottles
- dont put autopsy viscera in an open container
- drainage tube should be used for venous drainage
- always keep waste container covered
- put post aspirator in abdominal and thoracic cavities to collect drainage from vessels
- when using cavity pack, always cover treated area with plastic
- avoid spills
- run table water continuously
- check embalming machine hoses for leaks that drip or cause spraying
PPE (6)
- gown
- gloves
- shoe covers
- head cover
- face mask
- face shield/goggles
housekeeping
- neutralize and clean spills immediately
- all labels are properly placed
- biohazard stuff in biohazard containers
- have bio-hazard properly disposed of by a licensed service
