A Comment on Formalin Safety

Extract

For several months there have been recurring threads on microscopy-related internet listservers concerning health and safety issues that have troubled us greatly at Anatech Ltd. The general theme has been to make light of toxicity claims, provide anecdotal comments about having survived many decades of working in labs, and giving the impression that current health and safety regulations are at best a pain and probably are the cunning products of misguided governmental agencies.

The great hazard of formaldehyde is not its proven carcinogenicity. Anyone interested in formaldehyde's effects on humans should read the preamble to OSHA's Formaldehyde Standard (Federal Register 52(233):46168-46312; December 4, 1987). According to studies cited therein, formaldehyde has been directly implicated in causing tumors in the lungs, nasoand oro-pharynx and nasal passages of humans occupationally exposed to levels of formaldehyde not unlike conditions existing in histology laboratories a few decades ago. Repeated and prolonged exposure increases the risk.