There is a new study out on ALS disease that shows male funeral directors to be at higher risks than the main data base. The press release was limited. The report included 500 male funeral directors. I assume they actually meant embalmers. It was a US test and data base. ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is technically named “amyotrophic lateral sclerosis”. Generally, ALS is 100 percent fatal within a very short time. Women were not found to be at increased risk.
    The NFDA stated that the information from the new study is of great concern and it came as no surprise to many funeral directors. I’m a little surprised that this was not a surprise. Apparently, the study assumed all 500 funeral directors were exposed to dangerous amounts of formaldehyde. It did not define what qualified as a dangerous amount.
    The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Formaldehyde Standard considers an 8 hour average in excess of 0.75 PPM as high. The 15 minute peak exposure threshold is 2 PPM. If you are below 0.75 PPM but above 0.50 PPM, you are exempt from respirators and establishing the preparation room as a regulated area, but still subject to annual monitoring. If you are under 0.50 PPM on two consecutive tests, you are exempt from periodic monitoring. This 0.50 PPM level is known as the “action level”.
    The “action level” is important because it is prevalent at funeral homes. Compliance Plus has reviewed over a thousand funeral home monitoring results. Ninety-nine percent of these results were within the “action level”. Is this the level the study referred to as dangerous? We don’t know, and the study does not say. Neither does the NFDA.
    The NFDA said it will advise funeral homes to observe precautionary measures, such as allowing proper ventilation when working with formaldehyde. That sounds good, but state health departments are all over the map when drawing up ventilation guidelines. Most of them were pushed by air conditioning lobbies as opposed to independent industrial hygienist.
    I credit the NFDA for giving better advice than what I gave to my customers. I have had customers contact me and my answer was, “I have no idea if this is something you should be worried about.” All studies that point to health issues should be taken seriously even if most of them overstate the actual risks. That is my new recommendation. Take it seriously. Ensure that your room is well ventilated. Don’t worry too much unless and until you hear more about this.