Pilot Evaluation of Dermal Contamination by Antineoplastic Drugs among Hospital Pharmacy Personnel.

Background: It is believed that health care workers are exposed to antineoplastic drugs primarily via dermal contact. However, levels of occupational dermal contamination in Canada have not been formally investigated.

Objective: To determine the potential dermal exposure to antineoplastic drugs among hospital pharmacy personnel in a metropolitan area in British Columbia.

Methods: Six hospital pharmacies in the Vancouver area participated in this pilot study. Three pharmacy workers (a technician responsible for preparing drugs, a pharmacist responsible for checking drugs before administration, and a technician not responsible for preparing drugs but working in the pharmacy department) were selected from each site, for a total of 18 participants. Each worker's hands were wiped with a premoistened tissue (one wipe per person), and the wipes were subsequently analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry to determine levels of both cyclophosphamide and methotrexate (total of 36 analyses).

Results: At 3 of the 6 sites, at least one hand-wipe sample was above the analytical detection limit. Of the 18 analyses from the 3 "positive" sites, 5 (28%) had measurable levels of cyclophosphamide and methotrexate. Cyclophosphamide was detected in 3 samples (geometric mean 0.98 ng, geometric standard deviation 2.72 ng, range from below limit of detection to 3.96 ng) and methotrexate in 2 samples (geometric mean 0.27 ng, geometric standard deviation 2.57 ng, range from below limit of detection to 0.27 ng).

Conclusions: The results of this pilot study suggest that hospital pharmacy workers in Metro Vancouver are probably exposed to antineoplastic drugs, given that detectable levels of drug were found on the hands of some personnel. Further studies are recommended to confirm these findings.