Changes in the respiratory function of medical students caused by Formaldehyde exposure

Background: In recent decades, scientists have paid more attention to the relation between formaldehyde vapour and respiratory function of people exposed to this material. Objective: To evaluated the effect of formaldehyde vapour in gross anatomy dissection laboratory on respiratory function of medical students. Methods: Two groups of medical students were understudy. The first group consisted of 23 boys and 28 girls which were in the third term and had chosen the course of trunk practical anatomy. The second group consisted of 13 boys and 25 girls which were in the first term and did not have practical anatomy nor worked in dissection laboratory. The experiment and the control group performed spirometry with a gap of 2 hours, once before and once after the class. Findings: Decrease of FVC, FEV1 and FEV1/FVC were observed in the experiment group. Decrease of FVC and FEV1 were significant in boys while decrease of FEV1/FVC was not significant. Decrease of all above cases were significant in girls. The items did not decrease in the control group. Conclusion: The findings revealed that formaldehyde vapour in dissection laboratory decreases the respiratory function of medical students. The sensitivity of girl students to this vapour was much more as compared with boy students.