Abstract
Historical exposure estimates to formaldehyde were made in a recent retrospective cohort mortality study on workers exposed to formaldehyde in ten different plants. To supplement the historical information, personal air monitoring was conducted in each of the plants using the DuPont Pro-Tek[rgrave] badge. Three full-shift samples were taken in the summer and three in the winter. Some of the levels reported are unexpectedly high, possibly resulting from off-gassing of formaldehyde from the formaldehyde-containing dust, and may not reflect actual ambient air concentrations. The geometric means of the sampling results for formaldehyde in two manufacturers of formaldehyde ranged for the two seasons from 0.03 to 1.88 ppm and from 0.49 to 0.81 ppm. In the companies manufacturing formaldehyde resins, geometric seasonal means ranged from 0.11 to 30.45 ppm. Workers in the plants producing formaldehyde molding compounds were exposed to levels which were generally higher than those in resin manufacturing (0.04–60.77 ppm). Employees in the two plants producing molded plastic parts had seasonal mean exposures from none detected to 26.49 ppm. Mean concentrations for the two different seasons in the plant manufacturing decorative laminates were generally below 0.60 ppm, with only two jobs having mean exposures to formaldehyde greater than this level. In the plant manufacturing plywood paneling, mean exposures were below 0.40 ppm for all but one job. The majority of the jobs in the two plants which manufactured photographic film had mean exposures below 0.50 ppm. Although the results cited in this study may not reflect actual air levels, they may indicate that a significant source of formaldehyde exposure may occur from resin and molding compound dust.
