Abstract
Formaldehyde gas, a probable carcinogen, was routinely used for decontamination prior to recertification of Class II Type A2 biological safety cabinets (BSCs) at U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 3 (NAMRU-3) in Cairo, Egypt. During decontamination, the gas is released when paraformaldehyde is heated, causing exposure risks. This article describes methods used to reduce the frequency of potential exposure to formaldehyde of a NAMRU-3 staff member accredited by the National Sanitation Foundation International/American National Standards Institute for Biosafety Cabinetry (NSF/ANSI 49). Risk assessments were performed according to guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, and Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (CDC/NIH BMBL) (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2009). The process was also performed as a mandatory requirement before changing the biological pathogens worked with any given BSC. Of the NAMRU-3 BSCs that had previously undergone more than 78 paraformaldehyde decontaminations prior to recertification over a 3-year period (2009–2011), 27% required decontamination. This has reduced the use of mandatory formaldehyde gas decontamination prior to any service on a NAMRU-3 BSC by 60%, supporting compliance to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR 1910.1048) (OSHA, 2012) to reduce exposure to formaldehyde.