title: Air monitoring and assessment of occupational exposure to peracetic acid in a hospital environment.
abstract: A new automated method based upon solid phase micro-extraction (SPME)/fast gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was developed for the quantitative determination of airborne peracetic acid (PAA). The method is suitable for the quick assessment of brief acute exposure as well as for long-term environmental monitoring of PAA and can assist in improving safety and environmental quality in workplaces where disinfectants are used. During a monitoring campaign in the Regional Hospital of Florence, Italy, the 8-h average air concentration of PAA was 1/10 of the threshold limit value of time weighted average in 87% of the clinical units tested. However, the application of the new SPME method showed that short-term exposure to PAA could be relatively elevated in some hospital units with poor ventilation, allowing prompt intervention in order to reduce worker exposure to this potentially toxic compound.
authors.affiliation: Occupational Health Division, Department of Public Health, University of Florence, Florence, Italy. marco.pacenti@unifi.it
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pacenti
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dugheri
authors.forename: Pierpaolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boccalon
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Arcangeli
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dolara
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cupelli
mesh_terms: D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D016272:Occupational Health; D010463:Peracetic Acid / Q000032:analysis*; D052617:Solid Phase Microextraction
chemical_list: D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D010463:Peracetic Acid