[Reducing the levels of formaldehyde exposure during a gross anatomy dissection course with a local ventilation system].

Abstract

Reducing the levels of formaldehyde (FA) exposure in gross anatomy laboratories has been urgently required. We improved the environment of our gross anatomy laboratory by changing the existing general ventilation to local ventilation. We developed a local ventilation apparatus (grid-type of hood with downward suction) that can be attached to an ordinary dissection table. Furthermore, in order to make this local ventilation apparatus an enclosure hood, the upper plate of the dissection table was surrounded by flexible vertical flanges. The apparatus works as an effective enclosure hood without interfering with students' practice of dissection. We installed 26 local ventilation apparatuses and connected them to the ventilation duct. The ventilation ducts were installed above the ceiling or along the pillars not to interfere with students' vision and movements in the room. Adopting the local ventilation system reduced dramatically the students' and lecturers' exposure to formaldehyde. The geometric mean formaldehyde concentration was 0.066 ppm in the anatomy laboratory in 2005. Since 2005, the new system has enabled us to comply with safety and health regulations and providing a smell- and irritant-free dissection room with an excellent environment for anatomy study.