title: [Attempt to reduce the formaldehyde concentration by blowing cooled fresh air down in to the breathing zone of medical students from an admission port on the ceiling during gross anatomy class].
abstract: Cadavers in gross anatomy laboratories at most medical schools are conventionally embalmed in formaldehyde solution, which is carcinogenic to humans. Medical students and instructors are thus exposed to formaldehyde vapors emitted from cadavers during dissection. To reduce high formaldehyde concentrations in the breathing zone above cadavers being examined by anatomy medical students provisionally, dissection beds were located under existing admission ports on the ceiling to supply cooled fresh air from the admission port blowing downward on to the cadaver. In all cases, compared to normal condition, the downward flow of cooled fresh air from an admission port reduced formaldehyde concentrations by 0.09-0.98 ppm and reduced to 12.6-65.4% in the air above a cadaver in the breathing zone of students. The formaldehyde concentrations above cadavers under admission ports were not more than the formaldehyde concentrations between beds representing the indoor formaldehyde concentrations. Although the application of an existing admission port on the ceiling in this study did not remove formaldehyde, the downflow of cooled fresh air using this system reduced the formaldehyde concentration in the air above cadavers being attended by anatomy students during dissections. These results suggest the need for reducing formaldehyde levels in gross anatomy laboratories using fundamental countermeasures in order to satisfy the guidelines of 0.08 ppm established by the World Health Organization and the Japan Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Toho University, 5-21-16, Omori-Nishi, Ota-ku, Tokyo 143-8540, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takayanagi
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.forename: Youichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: Kunio
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.forename: Akihiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Sachiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kakuta
authors.forename: Fumi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sato
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000715:Anatomy / Q000193:education*; D002102:Cadaver; D004615:Embalming; D005557:Formaldehyde / Q000032:analysis*; D009285:Naphthoquinones; D013337:Students, Medical
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D009285:Naphthoquinones; C082126:ventilagolin; D005557:Formaldehyde