Cytotoxic drug manipulation and its impact on occupational safety of hospital workers

Abstract

In order to study environmental contamination by cytostatic drugs in a Portuguese hospital two wipe sampling campaigns were conducted in 2010 (12 samples) and 2015 (44 samples). Platinum containing drugs and fluorouracil were chosen because both were administered in high amounts. The detection limit was 0.01 pg/cm2 for platinum and 0.1 pg/cm2 for fluorouracil. The detected contamination on specific locations in the pharmacy and in the day hospital was higher in 2010. More detailed sampling in 2015 confirmed that optimization of working procedures and introduction of closed transfer system resulted in lower contamination by platinum drugs and fluorouracil. But there is still a need for continuing those processes.