Carcinogenic drug exposure among health-sector workers
The need for exposure assessment and surveillance
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 14966614 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Claudio Müller-Ramírez (0000-0001-9737-759X, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile, corresponding author), Sammy Almashat (0000-0001-5832-4970, University of Maryland, Baltimore), Joanna Gaitens (University of Maryland, Baltimore), Joanna M Gaitens (0000-0003-1285-679X, University of Maryland, Baltimore), Melissa McDiarmid (University of Maryland, Baltimore), Melissa A McDiarmid (0000-0003-3455-9147, University of Maryland, Baltimore) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 47 |
| Pages | 1 |
| Publication date | 2023-03-10 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1020-4989 • E-ISSN: 1680-5348 |
| Publisher | Pan American Health Organization (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.26633/rpsp.2023.11 |
| PMID | 36909803 |
| OpenAlex | W4322755773 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 14 |
Antineoplastic drugs (ANDs) used for chemotherapy can cause secondary cancers in treated patients and can pose carcinogenic risks to health-sector workers anywhere along these drugs’ life cycle in a facility, from production to patient administration. Several PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centers (CCs) have experience addressing these hazards in the health sector. The objectives of this report are four-fold: 1) Provide an overview of longstanding research and prevention efforts, led by PAHO/WHO and its Occupational Health CCs, aimed at reducing the burden of occupational cancer in the Americas; 2) Discuss how robust AND exposure assessment and educational/outreach work by PAHO CCs can form the basis of exposure mitigation efforts among health-sector workers; 3) Through the presentation of original AND exposure assessment data from a pharmaceutical compounding facility in Chile, highlight relatively inexpensive methods by which such data can be generated; and 4) Discuss how effective, periodic environmental surveillance in healthcare facilities results in the identification of AND contamination in the work environment and enables the implementation of low-cost, high-impact interventions to reduce the risk of occupational cancer in health-sector workers, including in limited-resource settings. The risk of health-sector worker exposure to ANDs and other hazardous drugs is an important issue for inclusion within PAHO/WHO’s broader efforts at reducing the impact of occupational cancer in the Americas. This report demonstrates that a wide range of accessible AND-exposure mitigation strategies are feasible at both a facility and a national policy level across the hemisphere
Business · Economic growth · Environmental health · Exposure assessment · Health care · Occupational safety and health · Outreach · Psychological intervention · Chemical Safety and Risk Management · Medical Device Sterilization and Disinfection · Medicine · Nursing · Safe Handling of Antineoplastic Drugs
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2024 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |