Exposure to formaldehyde and possible symptoms in medicine students

Abstract

Introduction: Formaldehyde, a substance commonly used in morphology laboratories in the most universities, where solutions are prepared without taking into account the standardized norms and basic principles in health and education. Contact with it causes local toxicity, causing mainly respiratory and skin manifestations, such as allergies. The objective was to identify the symptoms that the students perceive during its exposure and the personal protection measures that they use as biosecurity. Methodology: The research was quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional and retrospective. The sampling was non-probability, the population was made up by 684 students from different universities in Cochabamba since March to June 2019. The data collection technique was an online survey. Results: During the week students attend the laboratories on an average of 10 hours. A 53.9% did not receive information about the adverse effects it causes. A 50.7% do not know its composition and a 61.3% do not have knowledge about its adverse effects. The symptoms they presented were; mood swings a 9.9%, general fatigue a 19.7%, throat irritation a 28.8%, runny nose a 29.5%, eye fatigue a 30.2%, tearing a 76.9%, eye pain a 46.3% and skin irritation a 14.4%. Discussion: Three protection forms have been described when formaldehyde is used in laboratories; personal protection, adequate laboratory design and its enough and effective ventilation. It must be stand out there is a lack of knowledge about the adverse effects and the insufficient control in the universities with the biosecurity team used
by the students. Preventive actions must be put in practice, including the biosafety control and education in environments where this chemical is used.