Substitution of Formaldehyde in Cross Anatomy Is Possible

Extract

The recent publication by Hauptmann et al. ( 1 ) in the Journal provided clear evidence for increased mortality from cancer induced by exposure to formalin, as outlined by The Final Report on Carcinogens Background Document for Formaldehyde of the National Toxicology Program ( 2 ). Hauptmann’s data, along with a report by Viegas et al. ( 3 ) demonstrating that medical students are exposed to formalin concentrations greater than 5 ppm during macroscopic examinations, have caused medical institutions to reconsider the use of formalin to fix and preserve cadavers and tissues. The emerging data indicating the toxicity of formalin have resulted in the closure of German dissecting rooms in medical schools and could potentially result in poor gross anatomy training and strongly affect the quality of medical staff education. A recent complaint by surgeons that a lack of knowledge in anatomy is already prevalent among young doctors ( 4 ) indicates that the development of new nontoxic fixatives are necessary to allow medical students to adequately study gross anatomy in a safe environment.