Exposure risk assessment of formaldehyde in four military hospitals in Tehran

Background and Objective: Formaldehyde is a hazardous compound that used as a chemical preservative and disinfectant in medical laboratories and hospitals. The aim of this study was to risk assessment of occupational exposure to formaldehyde in different educational hospitals of Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences in Tehran. Materials and Methods:  This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 72 staffs of different sections of four hospitals. To determine the formaldehyde concentration in the air, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health method 3500 was used. The risk assessment conducted in accordance with the proposed method by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Results: In this study, the Time Weighted Average of 8 hours has a range of 0.01 to 0.08 ppm. The findings showed that the average estimated risk of cancer incidence varies from 1.4×10-4 to 30 × 10-4 for the staff of the hospitals studied and was more than the recommended value (10-6) in the Environmental Protection Agency. the average potential dose varies from 124 to 1149. Based on the results, there is a significant difference between the cancer risk and the potential dose in different hospitals and sections. Also, the maximum average of carcinogenic risk and the potential dose were 30 and 57.5 times higher than the definite risk and the acceptable limit, respectively. Conclusion: Due to the high risk of formaldehyde, engineering and management control measures are required to protect the staffs.