A cluster of cancer diagnoses among young medical workers at the University of Copenhagen has sparked calls for a formal investigation, after a new documentary from Danish broadcaster DR revealed that four student assistants who worked in the same anatomy dissection room all developed cancer.
The cases are linked to the “kælderen” dissection room at the Panum Institute, part of the Faculty of Health and Medicine at the University of Copenhagen. All four individuals were under the age of 35 and had worked as dissection assistants over an approximately ten-year period. The issue came to wider attention through Dr Christian Budtz, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma at 29 while working at the facility and is the only surviving individual among the group.
The suspected cause is formaldehyde, a chemical preservative used extensively in medical and anatomical settings in the form of formalin. While formaldehyde is a recognised hazardous substance, there remains limited public recognition of its carcinogenic risk across different cancer types. During its investigation, DR reported concerns about historical efforts by industry groups to influence exposure limit values, which determine permissible levels of workplace exposure.
Dr Budtz’s case was formally recognised in November 2025 by the Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Bispebjerg Hospital as an occupational illness linked to formaldehyde exposure. However, compensation has not been granted, with the Danish Labour Market Insurance Agency citing existing international evidence as insufficient to establish a causal link with Hodgkin lymphoma.
This position is increasingly being challenged in Denmark. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies formaldehyde as carcinogenic, with established links to nasopharyngeal cancer and leukaemia. Similarly, a 2024 assessment by the US Environmental Protection Agency concluded that an association between formaldehyde exposure and Hodgkin lymphoma is now considered likely, with additional concerns raised regarding potential links to lung cancer. IARC has acknowledged that its own updated review is forthcoming, and if it reaches the same conclusion, Budtz will be entitled to reopen his case.
Occupational health researchers, including representatives from the Danish Cancer Society, have called for a comprehensive epidemiological investigation of former dissection assistants over several decades to determine whether cancer incidence is elevated within this cohort.
In response, the University of Copenhagen has introduced limited measures to reduce formaldehyde exposure within the facility, including reducing occupancy and lowering room temperature. However, calls for a broader, systematic investigation have not yet been acted upon.#
The European Biosafety Network (EBN) is working with healthcare partners to support greater recognition of formaldehyde as a hazardous substance and advocates the adoption of closed-system approaches to reduce occupational exposure.
Read the full article here: https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/unge-laeger-paa-ku-fik-kraeft-eksperter-vil-have-sagen-undersoegt
