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Assessment of formaldehyde exposures under contemporary embalming conditions in U.S. funeral homes.
Allen, Laura H; Hamaji, Claire; Allen, Hannah L; Parker, Gwendolyn H; Ennis, Jzyk S; Kreider, Marisa L.
Afiliação
  • Allen LH; Cardno ChemRisk, now Stantec, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
  • Hamaji C; Cardno ChemRisk, now Stantec, San Francisco, California.
  • Allen HL; Cardno ChemRisk, now Stantec, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
  • Parker GH; Cardno ChemRisk, now Stantec, Houston, Texas.
  • Ennis JS; Jefferson State Community College, Birmingham, Alabama.
  • Kreider ML; Cardno ChemRisk, now Stantec, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
J Occup Environ Hyg ; 19(7): 425-436, 2022 07.
Article em En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35583522
ABSTRACT
The funeral service profession has used formaldehyde-containing embalming solutions for the preparation of decedents since the early 1900s. The available literature regarding funeral director exposure to formaldehyde largely consists of data collected prior to 2000, with most studies reporting task-length exposure concentrations rather than full-shift time-weighted average concentrations. As formaldehyde undergoes review in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluation process, accurately characterizing long-term exposure potential in this profession is critical. This study presents passive badge sampling and air change rate measurement results conducted at 13 funeral home locations across the United States. Full-shift (approximately 8-hr) samples were collected on one embalmer per day in each funeral home and on one occupational non-user (ONU), e.g., a receptionist. Additionally, task-length samples were collected during each embalming that occurred during the shift, were one to occur. Full-shift concentrations ranged from 0.007 to 1.1 ppm and 0.007 to 0.042 ppm for embalmers and ONUs, respectively. Task-length formaldehyde concentrations ranged from 0.058 to 1.4 ppm, with the average embalming taking 72.8 min to complete. Air change rates in the preparation rooms ranged from 2.8 to 28.3 air changes per hour; however, no correlation between task-length formaldehyde concentrations and air change rate was observed. Following empirical data collection, a Monte Carlo analysis of estimated annual 8-hr time-weighted average (TWA) exposure was conducted to determine the potential exposure distribution for embalmers employed at private funeral homes. Inputs to the simulation were derived from responses to a National Funeral Directors Association survey and from empirical measurements collected during the study. With respect to the reconstructed 8-hr TWAs, the median 8-hr TWA was 0.037 ppm, with 93.6% of the predicted concentrations below 0.1 ppm. This study provides a robust characterization of contemporary formaldehyde exposures in the funeral service profession. Further, it provides a strategy for interpreting the results along with surveyed responses regarding embalming frequency to better inform risks associated with formaldehyde exposure in this profession.
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Texto completo: 1 Base de dados: MEDLINE Assunto principal: Exposição Ocupacional / Embalsamamento Tipo de estudo: Prognostic_studies País/Região como assunto: America do norte Idioma: En Ano de publicação: 2022 Tipo de documento: Article

Texto completo: 1 Base de dados: MEDLINE Assunto principal: Exposição Ocupacional / Embalsamamento Tipo de estudo: Prognostic_studies País/Região como assunto: America do norte Idioma: En Ano de publicação: 2022 Tipo de documento: Article