I have had a similar experience and I reassigned my tech to an area of the
laboratory where there was minimal exposure. According to our Health and
Safety Department this was not necessary but because or the physician's
recommendation we reassigned the employee.
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
Sandy Hinton

> ----------
> From: 	A. Mark Briones[SMTP:3briones@thesocket.com]
> Sent: 	Tuesday, December 08, 1998 1:12 AM
> To: 	HistoNet Server
> Subject: 	Formaldehyde and Pregnant Path. Tech
>
> Dear Histonetters:
>
> I have a question regarding formaldehyde exposure in the pregnant
> employee.
> The levels monitored for formaldehyde are below the OSHA action levels for
> the 15 min. STEL and 8 hr. TWA.  A doctor (employee health), not the
> employeeis personal physician, recommended our pathology technician be
> reassigned to a work area without any exposure to formaldehyde.  The
> doctor
> said, iany level of detectable formaldehyde presents a risk to the
> developing fetus.i  This effectively removes our trained tech from
> autopsy,
> surgical pathology and her crosstrained duties in histology. Has anyone
> observed the same situation in your workplace?  Is this prudent action in
> terms of risk management or just going overboard? I appreciate any
> comments
> on this issue.
>
> Mark Briones, Administrative Supervisor - Anatomic Pathology, Valley
> Childrenis Hospital,  Madera CA,  E-mail: vchanatomicpath@hotmail.com
>
>
>