Purpose: nurses are exposed to formaldehyde when managing surgical samples that are to be later transferred to histopathology. We evaluated the conditions favouring the risk of exposure to this toxic reagent and the effect of measures to prevent it. Methods: we conducted a cross-sectional study where 94 female workers were enrolled as being potentially exposed to formaldehyde. From each nurse were collected: (1) personal air-formaldehyde by a personal dosimeter (8 hours), (2) a standardized questionnaire, (3) a urine sample to test 15-F2t-isoprostane, malondialdehyde, cotinine. Results: the results indicate a marked difference related to the adoption of the under vacuum sealing procedure, as an alternative to formaldehyde for preserving tissues. Nurses using the under vacuum sealing system in the operating rooms are exposed to levels of formaldehyde 75% lower than those who do not use that system. Oxidative stress biomarkers (15-F2t-isoprostane, malondialdehyde) are significantly higher in nurses using formaldehyde (p < 0.001) and in the absence of the under vacuum sealing system (p = 0.027), in particular in those workers who use liquid formaldehyde in the operating theatre (p = 0.012). Conclusions: analysis of the biological biomarkers confirms a direct responsibility of air formaldehyde on the onset of oxidative stress while the use of the under vacuum sealing technique is associated with a significant reduction of the exposure to air-formaldehyde and redox status. Our findings can be useful to characterize the environmental health risk in operating theatres and to plan preventive measures such as the under vacuum sealing procedure.

中文翻译：

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迈向无福尔马林的医院。15-F2t-异前列腺素和丙二醛的水平，以监测手术室护士的甲醛暴露情况。

目的：在处理手术样本时，护士应接触甲醛，这些样本随后将转移至组织病理学中。我们评估了有利于暴露于这种有毒试剂的风险的条件以及预防该试剂的措施的效果。方法：我们进行了一项横断面研究，其中94名女性工人被招募为可能接触甲醛。从每个护士那里收集：（1）用个人剂量计（8小时）收集个人空气甲醛，（2）标准化问卷，（3）尿液样本以检测15-F2t-异前列腺素，丙二醛，可替宁。结果：结果表明与采用真空密封程序有关，作为保存组织的甲醛的替代方法，存在显着差异。在手术室中使用真空密封系统的护士所接触的甲醛水平比不使用该系统的护士低75％。在使用甲醛的护士中，氧化应激生物标志物（15-F2t-异前列腺素，丙二醛）明显较高（p <0.001），并且在没有真空密封系统的情况下（p = 0.027），尤其是在使用液态甲醛的护士中手术室（p = 0.012）。结论：对生物生物标志物的分析证实了空气甲醛对氧化应激的发生负有直接责任，而使用真空密封技术可显着减少空气甲醛的暴露和氧化还原状态。