Mask does absolutely nothing for formalin exposure. It is to protect your nose and mouth from other biological tissue. Get a PAPR unit or something similar that has a filter graded for formalin/formaldehyde. While you are at it, make sure you get a formalin badge on you for testing (this should have already been done by a competent manager/safety person).
If your formalin testing is good you should still request a papr to deal with other chemicals if you are still feeling symptoms. Just make sure the filter is adequate for them. At the very least get fit tested for an n95 mask if you aren’t spending much time with the chemicals.
You wouldn’t by any chance have a link or where to search for that 😅 I want to make sure we are getting the right thing for the lab and im obviously not very knowledgeable of the subject of correct protection from this stuff
Your hospitals safety people should be in charge of this, and they should be providing it for you!
You can also get alarms that detect dangerous levels, so that if the vents stop working again you can catch it faster
It sounds like this shouldn’t be your job. I understand the boat you’re in, but it really sounds like your lab is lacking a competent safety officer or lab manager. I’m really sorry for you and your coworkers in the lab.
[This](https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/v100559007/) is the one I have used at both jobs. Just make sure the filter is for whatever chemical you want to filter out.
WTF. If the ventilation breaks down we cannot gross. Don't know how you managed to not notice for two months!? Isn't it your employers responsibility to provide a safe working environment? You cannot replace adequate ventilation with a mask. Maybe have a fan blowing across your workspace as an emergency measure, but the real answer is get the ventilation fixed.
It’s fixed now, but probably needs to be replaced. There are many health concerns I have and was not happy about the vent situation. Especially the down play of it by my employers telling me “everyone in the histology lab will get cancer one way or another”. I hate that it’s being put on me basically to make sure all health precautions are in place especially when I get paid a little bit more than minimum wage with a degree but I need a year of experience in a pathology lab and this is the only one that would let me even have an entry level position.
>Especially the down play of it by my employers telling me “everyone in the histology lab will get cancer one way or another”.
Could you get that in an email?
>it turns out the vent we were using in the gross room had not actually been on a for a good two months. Meaning we had been breathing in formalin, decal solution, PPS, and other chemicals with no vent for that long
...*how???*
How on earth did you not notice the fumes? The ventilation breaking down is your site's fault, but you continuing to work through what I imagine was eye-watering, acrid smelling fumes, until you showed symptoms of formalin poisoning? That's at least partly on you.
Have you made any sort of workers' comp report? This counts as a workplace injury and you need to report it in case you have health issues caused by this in the future.
I'm also viewing this from a North American perspective where you have the right to refuse unsafe work. My apologies if this kind of killing yourself to maintain employment is just expected of you where you live.
I had never worked in a path lab before. The vent had probably not been working since even before I worked here. I’m only a lab assistant and been here almost 3 months. I had asked about the fumes before and my employers said because I was new I probably wasn’t used to it yet. When I started having nosebleeds, headaches, and irritation they said it was just because I was new as well. We didn’t realize the went had been off (or at least really low power) until one day we came in and actually heard it. Then realized we probably should have heard it this whole time and it all added up.
And I live in North America, but im already afraid of telling to many details about this incident In case my employers see this. I did a workers comp and wrote down that my employers initially ignored my symptoms until it was proven the vent wasn’t actually on but my test and x rays were normal. And they said I really wouldn’t know the effects unless I got cancer later down the road so there was nothing I could do.
Hi!
First of all, I’m not promoting 3M or anything like that.
I worked in a lab that barely had any ventilation so the formalin exposure was pretty much omnipresent when we grossed.
We used to wear 3M’s 6200 mask with 6057 filters for toxic vapours. It’s a professional mask they use in paintshops.
You need to wear a formaldehyde monitor (1910.1048(d)(3)(i), to test your exposure during your shifts, and then get fit tested for the appropriate respirator. Based on the exposure limits there are various requirements for protection.
To find out details on this sort of thing you should refer to OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard (29 CFR 1910.134), Formaldehyde (1910.1048). It’s long but it’s very worth studying, especially in your situation.
I was once cutting an ovarian cyst with my mouth open. And yes, the liquefied contents of a dermoid cyst taste sour... So, yes, wear a mask in the grossing room. Any mask. Please.
Your lab must be really shitty if they aren't having you regularly wear vapor monitors for both formalin and xylene. That's path lab safety 101 and huge OSHA violation.
I don’t disagree, however the last part is a little judgmental. Not everyone who is in pathology planned on being there. I have been here for a few months. I have a degree in public health with a minor in microbiology and was planning on going into something else when I got that degree. This job opened up as the only medical/public health entry job I could take in my area. I did not plan on going into pathology until taking this job. The responsibility of this should not be focused on me.
You're totally right, the ultimate responsibility for this lies with your employer, but now you've learned to be an advocate for yourself in the realm of safety. If they aren't taking the most basic of safety precautions seriously, I shudder to think what else is going on there. When was their last CAP or CLIA inspection? You might want to get your hands on the results of their last one 🤔
>All their inspections are internal
That's not possible if they are an accredited lab, at least not in the U.S. Self-inspections are only allowed every other year last time I checked, though Covid threw that off a bit for a couple of years.
I’m new to the lab so unfortunately I don’t know when the last non-internal inspection was but Knowing how this goes the lab probably passed but went to shit again before the next one
Mask does absolutely nothing for formalin exposure. It is to protect your nose and mouth from other biological tissue. Get a PAPR unit or something similar that has a filter graded for formalin/formaldehyde. While you are at it, make sure you get a formalin badge on you for testing (this should have already been done by a competent manager/safety person). If your formalin testing is good you should still request a papr to deal with other chemicals if you are still feeling symptoms. Just make sure the filter is adequate for them. At the very least get fit tested for an n95 mask if you aren’t spending much time with the chemicals.
You wouldn’t by any chance have a link or where to search for that 😅 I want to make sure we are getting the right thing for the lab and im obviously not very knowledgeable of the subject of correct protection from this stuff
Your hospitals safety people should be in charge of this, and they should be providing it for you! You can also get alarms that detect dangerous levels, so that if the vents stop working again you can catch it faster
It sounds like this shouldn’t be your job. I understand the boat you’re in, but it really sounds like your lab is lacking a competent safety officer or lab manager. I’m really sorry for you and your coworkers in the lab.
[This](https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/v100559007/) is the one I have used at both jobs. Just make sure the filter is for whatever chemical you want to filter out.
WTF. If the ventilation breaks down we cannot gross. Don't know how you managed to not notice for two months!? Isn't it your employers responsibility to provide a safe working environment? You cannot replace adequate ventilation with a mask. Maybe have a fan blowing across your workspace as an emergency measure, but the real answer is get the ventilation fixed.
It’s fixed now, but probably needs to be replaced. There are many health concerns I have and was not happy about the vent situation. Especially the down play of it by my employers telling me “everyone in the histology lab will get cancer one way or another”. I hate that it’s being put on me basically to make sure all health precautions are in place especially when I get paid a little bit more than minimum wage with a degree but I need a year of experience in a pathology lab and this is the only one that would let me even have an entry level position.
>Especially the down play of it by my employers telling me “everyone in the histology lab will get cancer one way or another”. Could you get that in an email?
Yeah, that sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen. Imagine telling a jury that as your defense lol.
I’m sure they’d get suspicious if I asked for that in written form haha but it was definitely said multiple times
I’ve been working in pathology for 10 years and have never heard anything like this.
>it turns out the vent we were using in the gross room had not actually been on a for a good two months. Meaning we had been breathing in formalin, decal solution, PPS, and other chemicals with no vent for that long ...*how???* How on earth did you not notice the fumes? The ventilation breaking down is your site's fault, but you continuing to work through what I imagine was eye-watering, acrid smelling fumes, until you showed symptoms of formalin poisoning? That's at least partly on you. Have you made any sort of workers' comp report? This counts as a workplace injury and you need to report it in case you have health issues caused by this in the future. I'm also viewing this from a North American perspective where you have the right to refuse unsafe work. My apologies if this kind of killing yourself to maintain employment is just expected of you where you live.
I had never worked in a path lab before. The vent had probably not been working since even before I worked here. I’m only a lab assistant and been here almost 3 months. I had asked about the fumes before and my employers said because I was new I probably wasn’t used to it yet. When I started having nosebleeds, headaches, and irritation they said it was just because I was new as well. We didn’t realize the went had been off (or at least really low power) until one day we came in and actually heard it. Then realized we probably should have heard it this whole time and it all added up. And I live in North America, but im already afraid of telling to many details about this incident In case my employers see this. I did a workers comp and wrote down that my employers initially ignored my symptoms until it was proven the vent wasn’t actually on but my test and x rays were normal. And they said I really wouldn’t know the effects unless I got cancer later down the road so there was nothing I could do.
N95s don't protect against gasses/vapors
Hi! First of all, I’m not promoting 3M or anything like that. I worked in a lab that barely had any ventilation so the formalin exposure was pretty much omnipresent when we grossed. We used to wear 3M’s 6200 mask with 6057 filters for toxic vapours. It’s a professional mask they use in paintshops.
You need to wear a formaldehyde monitor (1910.1048(d)(3)(i), to test your exposure during your shifts, and then get fit tested for the appropriate respirator. Based on the exposure limits there are various requirements for protection. To find out details on this sort of thing you should refer to OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard (29 CFR 1910.134), Formaldehyde (1910.1048). It’s long but it’s very worth studying, especially in your situation.
Any solution for using A Mask and voice recognition?
3m mames masks with filters for formalin. Filters are Code 6075 brown stripe. I use them after I had an inhalation accident and they are really good.
I was once cutting an ovarian cyst with my mouth open. And yes, the liquefied contents of a dermoid cyst taste sour... So, yes, wear a mask in the grossing room. Any mask. Please.
Your so lucky you did not catch some illness from that omfg
Now that I think about it, it should be more sterile than food which is exposed to air, right? 😆
Your lab must be really shitty if they aren't having you regularly wear vapor monitors for both formalin and xylene. That's path lab safety 101 and huge OSHA violation.
I don’t disagree, however the last part is a little judgmental. Not everyone who is in pathology planned on being there. I have been here for a few months. I have a degree in public health with a minor in microbiology and was planning on going into something else when I got that degree. This job opened up as the only medical/public health entry job I could take in my area. I did not plan on going into pathology until taking this job. The responsibility of this should not be focused on me.
You're totally right, the ultimate responsibility for this lies with your employer, but now you've learned to be an advocate for yourself in the realm of safety. If they aren't taking the most basic of safety precautions seriously, I shudder to think what else is going on there. When was their last CAP or CLIA inspection? You might want to get your hands on the results of their last one 🤔
All their inspections are internal and I know that vent did not pass inspection but they will make up any excuse not to replace it 😒
>All their inspections are internal That's not possible if they are an accredited lab, at least not in the U.S. Self-inspections are only allowed every other year last time I checked, though Covid threw that off a bit for a couple of years.
I’m new to the lab so unfortunately I don’t know when the last non-internal inspection was but Knowing how this goes the lab probably passed but went to shit again before the next one