Assessment of formaldehyde exposures under contemporary embalming conditions in U.S. funeral homes

Abstract

The funeral service profession has used formaldehyde-containing embalming solutions for the preparation of decedents since the early 1900s. The available literature regarding funeral director exposure to formaldehyde largely consists of data collected prior to 2000, with most studies reporting task-length exposure concentrations rather than full-shift time-weighted average concentrations. As formaldehyde undergoes review in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluation process, accurately characterizing long-term exposure potential in this profession is critical. This study presents passive badge sampling and air change rate measurement results conducted at 13 funeral home locations across the United States. Full-shift (approximately 8-hr) samples were collected on one embalmer per day in each funeral home and on one occupational non-user (ONU), e.g., a receptionist. Additionally, task-length samples were collected during each embalming that occurred during the shift, were one to occur. Full-shift concentrations ranged from 0.007 to 1.1 ppm and 0.007 to 0.042 ppm for embalmers and ONUs, respectively. Task-length formaldehyde concentrations ranged from 0.058 to 1.4 ppm, with the average embalming taking 72.8 min to complete. Air change rates in the preparation rooms ranged from 2.8 to 28.3 air changes per hour; however, no correlation between task-length formaldehyde concentrations and air change rate was observed. Following empirical data collection, a Monte Carlo analysis of estimated annual 8-hr time-weighted average (TWA) exposure was conducted to determine the potential exposure distribution for embalmers employed at private funeral homes. Inputs to the simulation were derived from responses to a National Funeral Directors Association survey and from empirical measurements collected during the study. With respect to the reconstructed 8-hr TWAs, the median 8-hr TWA was 0.037 ppm, with 93.6% of the predicted concentrations below 0.1 ppm. This study provides a robust characterization of contemporary formaldehyde exposures in the funeral service profession. Further, it provides a strategy for interpreting the results along with surveyed responses regarding embalming frequency to better inform risks associated with formaldehyde exposure in this profession.

Keywords:

• Exposure reconstruction
• Monte Carlo
• passive badges

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to extend a sincere thank you to all the funeral homes that welcomed our researchers for the study and to Maggie Davis for her coordination efforts. Additionally, thank you to Lauren Gloekler, Elise De Gandiaga, Allison Persing, Elizabeth Best, Ruth Hwang, Chris Bates, and Andy Maier for their time, courage, and efforts to make this study happen. Five of the authors (LA, CH, HA, GP, MK) are employed by Cardno ChemRisk, now Stantec, a consulting firm that provides scientific advice to the government, corporations, law firms, and various scientific and professional organizations. One of the authors (JE) is a funeral service education instructor at Jefferson State Community College in Birmingham, AL, and an embalming consultant. Financial support for the research described in this manuscript was provided in part by the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA). Cardno ChemRisk, now Stantec, was engaged to provide study design and general consulting to support communication with the U.S. EPA during the on-going risk evaluation of formaldehyde. In addition to the support provided by NFDA, significant additional financial support and funding for the preparation of this article was provided by Cardno ChemRisk, now Stantec. The authors designed, performed, and analyzed the results from this study, and are solely responsible for its content, without comment by NFDA.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author (MK) upon reasonable request.