Comparison of formaldehyde exposure measurements stored in the French and German databases

Many developed countries store the results of exposure measurements at workplaces into databases. Since these databases are often maintained by national institutions, the relevance of these data is limited to a national scale. The merging of various databases to a combined pool of data would greatly improve the reliability of the statistical indicators based on it. Therefore numerous technical and scientific issues have to be tackled. Indeed, the values are issuing from air samples collected for different objectives, with different practices and concern different industrial activities. In this regard, formaldehyde measurements at the workplace in German MEGA database and French COLCHIC database are studied. The industrial sectors where formaldehyde is most often sampled in both countries are identified. The results show that it is often found in human health activities, manufacture of wood, manufacture of basic metals, manufacture of rubber and plastic products and manufacture of textiles. MEGA and COLCHIC data of these sectors are presented, depending on the type of measurement (static and personal). The results show similar exposure levels in both countries. In the light of these results, it is concluded that the information provided by each database are comparable at least in the case of formaldehyde. A rough picture of occupational exposure to formaldehyde in France and Germany is drawn by mixing data from both databases. This merged data open new perspectives for the development of computer tools and establishing guidelines for risk evaluation.