Hand and Glove Sanitizing in Sterile Compounding, Part 1.

Selecting an appropriate sanitizer (i.e., "rub") for application to hands and gloves before and, if necessary, during sterile compounding is as important as is its consistent and judicious use.

Safety Standards in Pharmaceutical Compounding, Part 3: Fire Safety.

In pharmaceutical compounding, ensuring the safety of staff in the workplace is an issue of prime importance to pharmacy owners and managers and the focus of international, federal, state, and local agencies charged with enforcing adherence to the prevention of job-related injuries and illnesses. In this third article in a 3-part series on hazard communications, fire- and life-safety codes established by authorities having such jurisdiction over U.S.

Safety Standards in Pharmaceutical Compounding, Part 2: A Closer Look at Agency Information, Oversight, and Assistance.

In the U.S., compounding pharmacies are regulated primarily by state boards of pharmacy, which often collaborate with federal agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration or the Department of Health and Human Services.

Safety Standards in Pharmaceutical Compounding, Part 1: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Ensuring a safe working environment for employees is of paramount importance to all responsible compounding pharmacists, and adhering to safety standards established by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration renders achieving that goal more likely.

Quality Control: Hand and Glove Sanitizing in Sterile Compounding, Part 2.

Selecting an appropriate sanitizer (i.e., "rub") for application to hands and gloves before and, if necessary, during sterile compounding is as important as is its consistent and judicious use.

Quality Control: Hand and Glove Sanitizing in Sterile Compounding, Part 1.

In pharmaceutical compounding, strict adherence to a protocol for hand hygiene and glove sanitizing is essential to ensure the purity, safety, and effectiveness of sterile preparations; reduce patient morbidity and mortality; and decrease the cost of health care. Alcohols and chlorhexidine gluconate are among the most effective bactericides, virucides, and fungicides, and acquired resistance to those agents has not been shown in clinical practice. This article, which is part 1 in a series of 2, pertains primarily to alcohol-based hand rubs that are appropriate for use in sterile compounding (glove sanitizing is discussed as part of the handsanitizing process).

Evaluating measurement error in estimates of worker exposure assessed in parallel by personal and biological monitoring.

Background: While studies indicate that the attenuating effects of imperfectly measured exposure can be substantial, they have not had the requisite data to compare methods of assessing exposure for the same individuals monitored over common time periods.

Methods: We examined measurement error in multiple exposure measures collected in parallel on 32 groups of workers. Random-effects models were applied under both compound symmetric and exponential correlation structures.

Assessment of variability in biomonitoring data using a large database of biological measures of exposure.

Although intra- and interindividual sources of variation in airborne exposures have been extensively studied, similar investigations examining variability in biological measures of exposure have been limited. Following a review of the world's published literature, biological monitoring data were abstracted from 53 studies that examined workers' exposures to metals, solvents, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and pesticides. Approximately 40% of the studies also reported personal sampling results, which were compiled as well.