DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2019.v07i02.072

Pages: 771-774

Medical students are exposed to a variety of occupational hazards during education and training in medical schools. One of them is formaldehyde, which is commercially available as formalin and is used as a component of embalming fluids in anatomy. It causes various effects like intense mucosal irritation, decrement in lung functions, etc. The present study was therefore intended to observe the various physical reactions experienced by first year medical students after six and ten months of exposure to formaldehyde to understand its chronic effects on body’s physiology. A longitudinal, descriptive study was conducted in the Department of Physiology, Rohilkhand Medical College and Hospital with eighty randomly selected first year medical students. The various symptoms were recorded on a predesigned questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon signed rank test were used for analysis. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Considerable amount of distress was observed in the participants as indicated by the manifold physical reactions reported by them. However, by the end of ten months a significant decrease in their extent was also observed, suggesting that body adapts and develops tolerance towards this chemical. It highlights the innate physiological principle of restoring homeostasis. The exact mechanism remains to be unfolded. We should promote measures to reduce the exposure of students to formaldehyde to increase the quality of their learning experience.