title: Application and assessment of a regular environmental monitoring of the antineoplastic drug contamination level in pharmacies - the MEWIP project.
abstract: A large-scale study was carried out in order to determine the contamination level of antineoplastic drugs in pharmacies and to investigate the suitability and effects of wipe sample monitoring at regular intervals. A specific study design was developed. The 130 participating pharmacies were divided into a study and a control group, carrying out five and two wipe sampling cycles, respectively. The work practice was analyzed using questionnaires to identify factors that influence the contamination level. From 1269 wipe samples, 774 (61%) were contaminated with at least one of the analyzed cytotoxic drugs: cyclophosphamide, docetaxel, etoposide, 5-fluorouracil, gemcitabine, ifosfamide, methotrexate, and paclitaxel. A significant decrease of the contamination with cyclophosphamide and 5-fluorouracil was observed in the study group. The Monitoring-Effect Study of Wipe Sampling in Pharmacies method has proven to be a reliable and affordable tool for contamination control. Based on the 90th percentile of the contamination values, a substance-independent performance-based guidance value of 0.1ng cm(-2) has been derived.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Energy and Environmental Technology, IUTA, Division of Environmental Hygiene & Micropollutants Duisburg 47229, Germany. kiffmeyer@iuta.de
authors.forename: Thekla K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Kiffmeyer
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tuerk
authors.forename: Moritz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.forename: Hartmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stuetzer
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hadtstein
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heinemann
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Eickmann
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000032:analysis* / Q000592:standards; D004340:Drug Contamination; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D004866:Equipment Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D015386:Hazardous Substances / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D006920:Hygiene / Q000592:standards; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D010594:Pharmacies / Q000592:standards
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D015386:Hazardous Substances