March 10, 2006—The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has created a new safety and health topic page on its Web site concerning Occupational Exposure to Antineoplastic Agents.
According to NIOSH, antineoplastic agents are chemotherapy drugs and cytotoxic drugs used to treat cancer patients and some non-cancer patients.
Their adverse health effects are well documented, although their benefits outweigh their risks for cancer patients with a life-threatening disease.
However, for the healthcare workers who are exposed to antineoplastic agents as part of their work practice, NIOSH says that precautions should be taken to eliminate or reduce exposure as much as possible.
The site discusses using occupational monitoring, environmental sampling, decontamination, and protective equipment in order to protect pharmacists, nurses, physicians, operating room personnel, veterinarians, and hospital staff such as shipping and receiving personnel, custodial workers, laundry workers, and waste handlers. It includes links to recent publications, guidelines, regulations, surveys, and more.
