The Formaldehyde Standard

Do employees at your facility work routinely with formaldehyde, in solution or as a gas? Are staff exposures minimized and kept below the formaldehyde Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) and Short Term Exposure Limit (STEL)? Are the airborne concentrations at your facility below the Action Level of 0.5 ppm for an 8-hour day?

Formaldehyde is one of several chemicals regulated by OSHA. OSHA's Formaldehyde Standard, 29 CFR 1910.1048, outlines what is required to ensure that employees working with formaldehyde are not exposed to airborne concentrations higher than the PEL of 0.75 ppm or the STEL of 2 ppm. Unless you can document, with objective data, that airborne concentrations of formaldehyde are below the action level or STEL, you should develop a written Initial Monitoring Plan and document the results.

Initial monitoring should take into account all employees with potential exposure across all shifts and functions. The goal of initial monitoring is to determine airborne concentrations of formaldehyde. Even if initial monitoring results are below the PEL, STEL and action level, you will need to conduct monitoring again if there is any change in the process, control measure, or equipment.

If initial monitoring shows airborne concentrations of formaldehyde below the action level or STEL after two consecutive sampling periods, at least 7 days apart, no additional action is required. If initial monitoring shows airborne concentration at or above the action level, but below the PEL, then monitoring should occur every 6 months. If initial monitoring shows a concentration at or above the STEL then monitoring should be performed annually.

Employers must implement administrative and engineering controls if the airborne concentrations of formaldehyde are above the STEL or PEL. Even if the concentrations are below the PEL there may be additional training, labeling, and medical surveillance requirements.

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Safety Partners efficiently and cost-effectively implements hands-on environmental, health, and safety (EHS) programs at emerging life sciences companies. Safety Partners tailors its programs to each client's unique science, processes, procedures, and facilities, while reducing program implementation burdens. Its expertise is unmatched, clocking over 85,000 hours at over 120 New England life sciences firms.