Evaluation of a multiple sclerosis cluster among nurses in an inpatient oncology ward

Surface Contamination by Antineoplastic Drugs in Two Oncology Inpatient Units

Background

Hazardous drugs pose risks to health care workers. To reduce the risk of occupational exposure for all workers, several protective and monitoring measures have been recommended and implemented over the past two decades. This study was undertaken to describe traces contamination with ten antineoplastic drugs in the oncology care unit of two university hospitals.

Methods

In this descriptive interrupted time series study, data was collected in two hospitals (a pediatric hospital and an adult hospital) in two consecutive years (12 December 2017 and 27 March 2018, defined as Period 1; 17 April 2019 and 12 June 2019, defined as Period 2). In both Period 1 and Period 2, 36 sites were sampled in each inpatient care unit to explore the contamination of surfaces with hazardous drugs.

Results

A total of 144 samples from the oncology care unit of the two hospitals were obtained for measurement. Overall, 40 % (58/144) of the sampling sites were positive for at least one hazardous drug. In the pediatric centre, 50 % (18/36) and 36 % (13/36) of the sites sampled in Period 1 and Period 2, respectively, were positive for at least one hazardous drug, whereas in the adult hospital, the percentage of sites that were positive for at least one hazardous drug was 19 % (7/36) in Period 1 and 56 % (20/36) in Period 2.

Conclusion

The surfaces of inpatient care units sampled in this study were contaminated with antineoplastic drugs, and contamination was present throughout the care units (including structures, furniture, medical equipment, and office equipment). Hospitals’ environmental surveillance programs should encompass inpatient care units.