Journal of the Korean Society of Safety (한국안전학회지)

The Korean Society of Safety (한국안전학회)
권호 표지

A Study on Environmental Monitoring of Fluorouracil and Decontamination Reagents

Fluorouracil의 환경감시 및 제거약제에 관한 연구

  • Lee, Su-Gil (Discipline of Public Health, School of Population Health & Clinical Practice, University of Adelaide) ;
  • Lee, Nae-Woo (Division of Safety Engineering, Pukyong National University)
  • 이수길 (아델라이드 대학교, 공중보건학과) ;
  • 이내우 (부경대학교 안전공학부)
  • Published : 2009.08.30
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Abstract

This study has been to examine the occupational exposure levels of Fluorouracil (5-FU) in a hospital and to investigate the most effective cleaning reagent for control. Fluorouracil is one of the cytotoxic drugs which are therapeutic agents used to treat cancer. The health practitioners working in the cytotoxic work room and oncology ward areas are exposed to adverse health risks like cytogenetic and DNA damage from cytotoxic drugs exposure by frequent skin contact from contaminated surfaces. Four kinds of cleaning reagents has been examined to degrade the 5-FU. It was found that 5-FU was only degraded soon after the reaction in 0.5%(w/v) NaClO solution. Therefore, 0.5%(w/v) NaClO solution has been chosen to decompose any residues on the contamination surfaces. A substantial level of contamination was found on the surfaces of cytotoxic work room and oncology ward areas. The contamination ranges of the surfaces in cytotoxic work room and oncology ward areas were from 2.0 to $13.8{\mu}g/m^2$ and 5.39 to $11.53{\mu}g/m^2$ respectively. Consequently, regulation of the occupational exposure limit, procedure of special cleaning, and the use of personal protective equipment are recommended during the manipulation and administration of the drugs to avoid skin contamination from cytotoxic drugs like 5-FU.

이 연구는 Fluorouracil(5-FU)가 병원에서 암치료제로 쓰이는 세포독성약제의 한 종류이기 때문에 병원내부에 5-FU의 폭로 정도와 그 관리를 위한 가장 효율적인 세척약제를 조사하기 위한 것이다. 이러한 세포독성 약제실이나 종약학 병동에서 근무하는 실무자들은 세포독성약제로 오염된 표면에 빈번하게 접촉하게 되면 세포유전성이나 DNA손상에 대한 위험이 높게 된다. 따라서 이러한 약제의 세척제실험을 위하여 4가지 약제로서 시행한분해시험에서 0.5%(w/v) NaClO 용액만이 5-FU를 즉시 분해시켰으므로 이 용액은 오염표면의 잔유물을 분해시키는데 사용될 수 있다. 세포독성 약제실의 오염표면에서 확인된 농도범위는 2.0에서 $13.8{\mu}g/m^2$까지이고, 종약학 병동의 오염표면에서 측정한 농도범위는 5.39에서 $11.53{\mu}g/m^2$이었다. 5-FU와 같은 세포독성약제로부터 피부오염을 피하기 위하여 작업장의 노출허용기준과 같은 법적인 조치, 완벽한 표면세척제 및 보호구사용과 같은 엄격한 관리기준이 마련되어야 할 것이다.

Keywords

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