Assessment of formaldehyde levels in some selected offices, Residential homes and mortuaries in Ashanti region

Formaldehyde is the main ingredient in embalming liquids used in mortuaries for preserving bodies. Pressed wood products, carpets, cleaning products such as detergents and disinfectants, and furniture are significant sources of formaldehyde in residential homes and offices. Due to formaldehyde’s carcinogenicity, it has brought into question the impact of indoor air pollutants and indoor air quality. This poses health risk to the workers and residents in these facilities. This study measures the formaldehyde levels both indoor and outdoor at some selected offices, homes and mortuaries. Air samples were taken from the various offices and rooms in mortuaries and homes and analysed using the MBTH method. Temperature and relative humidity were also measured and a survey on the potential formaldehyde sources in these areas and health effects were administered to respondents at the same time. Formaldehyde levels recorded for homes ranged between 20 and 430 μg/m3. At a significant level of 0.05 (5%), no significant difference were found between the mean concentrations of formaldehyde in bedrooms and halls. Significant positive correlations (p<0.05) were found between temperatures and the formaldehyde concentrations in the kitchens, bedrooms, and living rooms. The type of fuel used in these kitchens for cooking showed a positive correlation of 0.011 (p< 0.05) with the level of formaldehyde concentration. Indoor formaldehyde concentration recorded for homes ranged between 60 and 430 μg/m3 which exceeds the World Health Organization’s recommended permissible limit of 100 μg/m3 for homes. The concentrations of formaldehyde recorded for the sampled air from offices ranged between 45 and 399 μg/m3. Similarly a positive correlation (p<0.05) between relative humidity, temperature and concentrations of formaldehyde was observed. The levels of formaldehyde level recorded for mortuaries in this study ranged between 14 and 710 μg/m3. This level is higher than the limit set by American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists’ (ACGIH) Time Weighted Average (TWA). Temperature and relative humidity was positively correlated with the level of formaldehyde concentration (p=0.003). Analysis of the survey showed that the health effect that was complained frequently by residents was headache. Similarly, some workers in offices complained of headaches. Workers in the mortuaries complained of symptoms such as eye irritations, skin irritation, nose and throat irritation, headaches and sometimes vomiting. These symptoms are related to specific place of activity within the facility and how frequent a particular worker visits or comes to work weekly. The health effect that was complained frequently in homes from the questionnaire was headache. The correlation matrix analysis conducted in this study indicates that homes and offices that use cleaning products such as detergents and disinfectants recorded high levels of formaldehyde. The hazard quotient (HQ) values calculated ranged from 0.1 - 5.2. About 50.68 % of the calculated HQ values were above the safety limit (HQ=1).

Source: KNUST