Volatile Organic Compounds in Anatomical Pathology Wards: Comparative and Qualitative Assessment of Indoor Airborne Pollution

Abstract

The impact of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) on indoor air quality and on human health is widely recognized. However, VOC contamination in hospital indoor air is rarely studied and chemical compounds that singularly do not show high toxicity are not submitted to any regulation. This study aimed to compare VOC contamination in two different anatomical pathology wards in the same hospital. Hydrocarbons, alcohols, and terpenes were sampled by passive diffusive samplers. Analytical tests were performed by thermal desorption coupled with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry detector. Results highlighted a different VOC pollution in the two wards, due to the structural difference of the buildings and different organizational systems. The scarcity of similar data in the literature shows that the presence of VOCs in pathology wards is an underestimated problem. We believe that, because of the adverse effects that VOCs may have on the human health, this topic is worth exploring further.

Chemical Risk in Hospital Settings: Overview on Monitoring Strategies and International Regulatory Aspects

“…Formaldehyde (FA) is a colourless, acrid-smelling VOC used for tissue fixation in anatomic pathology laboratories, and can cross-link with several endogenous organic compounds, such as proteins and nucleic acids, causing irreversible modifications of these molecules. [29][30][31][32] At room temperature FA is gaseous and, consequently, mostly absorbed by inhalation and deposited in the upper respiratory tract. In addition, as an aqueous solution of formalin, skin exposure is also possible.…”

Sigurnost rada u anatomskom laboratoriju s formalinom i inovativno praćenje procjene profesionalne izloženosti formaldehidu

“…APL's safety is an ever-growing concern, particularly regarding exposure to airborne FA (Cipolla et al, 2017). In this regard, it is useful to mention the Technical Note issued by SIAPEC-IAP (Italian Society of Pathological Anatomy and Cytopathology diagnostics -Italian Division of IAP) concerning the possible measures aimed at minimizing the duration and the exposure level of formaldehyde operators in the APLs (Cavallo, Cattaneo, Spinazzè, 2017).…”

Study on the Characteristics of Formaldehyde Pollution in Typical Teaching Machine Room

“…In the newly house, furniture and building materials were the main source of formaldehyde [5], which contributed 45% and 43% to indoor formaldehyde concentration [27], and the release of formaldehyde from indoor wood materials was decrease with the passage of time [28]. Differences in building structure may affect the release of indoors formaldehyde [29], and VOC contaminants vary in two different types of wards [30]. Human activities will affect the release of pollutants that also increase the indoor concentration of formaldehyde [31,32].…”