Formaldehyde Concentration in an Anatomic Dissection Room with Three Different Ventilation Configurations Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

Abstract

Formaldehyde is used to preserve cadavers in medical educational institutions for its long durability and non-degradability. Continuous exposure to the toxic vapours of formaldehyde to students, faculty and histopathology laboratory workers is suspected to cause various symptoms like neurasthenia, upper and lower airway irritation, coughing, wheezing, heartburn, and several other symptoms. World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) have introduced regulatory requirements to limit the levels of formaldehyde exposure to students and faculty during dissection. The use of human cadavers is a part of medical education and exposure to formaldehyde needs to be investigated. The main objective of this work is to determine the formaldehyde concentration under various ventilations system such as natural, air-conditioned and fan induced ventilation. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used to investigate and compare the spread of formaldehyde from a cadaver in an anatomic dissection hall. The average formaldehyde concentration at the breathing zone in the anatomic dissection hall for 3 different types of ventilation systems is air-conditioned (AC) (1.69 ppm), followed by naturally ventilated (5.4 ppm) and fan induced system (5.59 ppm). AC based systems are effective in reducing the formaldehyde concentration and should be preferred.