US EPA

1317520 

Journal Article 

Exposure of embalmers to formaldehyde and other chemicals 

Williams, TM; Levine, RJ; Blunden, PB 

1984 

Yes 

American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal
ISSN: 0002-8894 

45 

3 

172-176 

English 

6720580 

10.1080/15298668491399596 

WOS:A1984SH95700006 

Exposure of embalmers to formaldehyde (50000), other chemical vapors, and total and respirable particulates was surveyed in seven funeral homes. The facilities were monitored with both personal and area air samplers. Air concentrations of formaldehyde, organic vapors, and particulates were determined during embalming of intact and autopsied bodies. Embalming usually takes about 1 hour and the undertakers surveyed embalm about 75 bodies per year. Formaldehyde was assayed by the chromotropic acid method. Detector tubes were sampled for phenol (108952), particulates were measured by a portable respirable aerosol mass monitor, and solvent vapors were analyzed by gas chromatography. Embalming room ventilation systems were examined and embalming techniques were assessed. Personal sampling revealed time weighted average formaldehyde concentrations averaged 0.3 parts per million (ppm) and 0.9ppm when embalming intact and autopsied bodies, respectively. Concentrations of other airborne chemicals and particulates were negligible. The authors conclude that to reduce exposure to formaldehyde, attention should be paid to the techniques used in autopsied bodies, since that seemed to be the major determinant of such exposure. 

Air Pollutants, Occupational; Embalming; Formaldehyde/ toxicity; Maximum Allowable Concentration; Occupational Diseases/ prevention & control; West Virginia