Health professionals involved in the preparation and administering of anticancer drugs and those involved with the transport and disposal of same are to wear appropriate PPE for personal protection against anticancer drugs.
The risk of cytotoxic chemotherapy
Cytotoxic chemotherapy has been recognized by the scientific community as “carcinogenic to humans.” This evidence has led to the classification of these types of drugs as high risk, raising the question of the need for specific personal protective equipment or PPE for anticancer drugs. The hazard lies in the fact that to inhibit the growth of cancer cells anticancer drugs act on the DNA in the cell division stage. However, some molecules do not operate selectively on diseased cells, but affect all the divisible ones. This obviously poses a health risk for health professionals involved in the preparation and administering of anticancer drugs and those involved with the transport and disposal of same, which can be overcome only by using suitable PPE for protection against anticancer drugs.
Four types of PPE for anticancer drugs
I PPE for anticancer drugs can be divided into four categories.
The first category consists of gloves, which according to current directives, are to be classified as PPE, bear the CE mark and be accompanied by technical documentation confirming compliance to specific length and thickness requirements, and length of protection time when using certain substances (methotrexate, cyclophosphamide, fluorouracil, vincristine sulfate, daunorubicin, doxorubicin hydrochloride, doxorubicin).
Protective clothing is to bear the CE mark as well and be equipped with technical documentation confirming its suitability as demonstrated by tests carried out using at least four or five substances amongst those mentioned above.
Respiratory protective devices, on the other hand, are to be used when preparing compounds. Both the half masks equipped with particle filters and the particle filtering face pieces are to be class P3 and FFP3 respectively and be CE marked.
The PPE to be used for protection against anticancer drugs are those equipped with visors in order to protect the face from splashes and sprays. In case they are not disposable, each worker needs to be supplied with a personal one which has to be carefully maintained and disinfected.
Among the PPE for use in pharmaceutical and biological environments the respiratory protective devices certified to international standards produced by Kasco are suggested.
Apr 21 2017
Risk of exposure to antineoplastic drugs: Which PPE should be used?
The risk of cytotoxic chemotherapy
Cytotoxic chemotherapy has been recognized by the scientific community as “carcinogenic to humans.” This evidence has led to the classification of these types of drugs as high risk, raising the question of the need for specific personal protective equipment or PPE for anticancer drugs. The hazard lies in the fact that to inhibit the growth of cancer cells anticancer drugs act on the DNA in the cell division stage. However, some molecules do not operate selectively on diseased cells, but affect all the divisible ones. This obviously poses a health risk for health professionals involved in the preparation and administering of anticancer drugs and those involved with the transport and disposal of same, which can be overcome only by using suitable PPE for protection against anticancer drugs.
Four types of PPE for anticancer drugs
I PPE for anticancer drugs can be divided into four categories.
The first category consists of gloves, which according to current directives, are to be classified as PPE, bear the CE mark and be accompanied by technical documentation confirming compliance to specific length and thickness requirements, and length of protection time when using certain substances (methotrexate, cyclophosphamide, fluorouracil, vincristine sulfate, daunorubicin, doxorubicin hydrochloride, doxorubicin).
Protective clothing is to bear the CE mark as well and be equipped with technical documentation confirming its suitability as demonstrated by tests carried out using at least four or five substances amongst those mentioned above.
Respiratory protective devices, on the other hand, are to be used when preparing compounds. Both the half masks equipped with particle filters and the particle filtering face pieces are to be class P3 and FFP3 respectively and be CE marked.
The PPE to be used for protection against anticancer drugs are those equipped with visors in order to protect the face from splashes and sprays. In case they are not disposable, each worker needs to be supplied with a personal one which has to be carefully maintained and disinfected.
Among the PPE for use in pharmaceutical and biological environments the respiratory protective devices certified to international standards produced by Kasco are suggested.
By Kasco Srl • Blog •