We’re not surprised if you’ve asked yourself this question before. Unfortunately, the answer is yes. However, we try to make our forms as simple as possible. This is why we redesigned the Formaldehyde Questionnaire based on feedback received from in-person interactions, through email, or the EHSO customer satisfaction survey. This article explains the EHSO Formaldehyde Questionnaire and monitoring program.

You are the expert in the lab and we need your help!

You are the experts in your area of research, and therefore you know what chemicals you use in the lab and how you use them. ESHO is comprised of a team of professionals trained in various disciplines of occupational safety and regulatory compliance, but we need your help ensuring your safety! We are required to evaluate occupational exposure to Formaldehyde by law. Formaldehyde is a sensitizer, meaning it causes a substantial proportion of exposed people to develop an allergic reaction in normal tissue after repeated exposure. The Formaldehyde Questionnaire, and other forms EHSO has, allows us to evaluate your exposure to hazardous materials and protect you from possible negative outcomes such as sensitization.

What do we do with your Formaldehyde Questionnaire?

Your Formaldehyde Questionnaire is used to identify lab processes that use formaldehyde and establish exposure levels for each process through monitoring. Once an exposure level is established for a given process, we use it to characterize the risk for a given lab based on all the processes they perform. If we determine a lab group is at risk, we use this quantitative data to support increased exposure controls, such as fume hoods, down draft tables, and respirators. For acceptable exposure levels, monitoring is performed periodically to reconfirm our established exposure levels.

For any questions regarding Emory’s Industrial Hygiene monitoring programs, email our Industrial Hygiene group at indhyg@emory.edu, or our main office at ehso@emory.edu.