Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T23:27:16.120Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Expanding Role of Hospital Epidemiology: Employee Health—Chemical Exposure in the Health Care Setting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2016

William A. Rutala  and
Bruce H. Hamory
William A. Rutala*
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina, and the Department of Hospital Epidemiology North Carolina Memorial Hospital, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Bruce H. Hamory
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
*
Division of infectious Diseases. 547 Burnett-Womack CB# 7030, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7030
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Health care workers are exposed to a vast array of health and safety hazards, unsurpassed by any other service industry and perhaps unequaled by industry in general. These hazards include exposure to biological agents, physical agents, stress, injury and chemical agents.

The hospital environment abounds with hazardous chemical agents. A hospital survey conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found at least 135 chemicals recognized as carcinogens, teratogens, mutagens, or which have some combination of these effects in humans or animals. Another 179 chemicals found in hospitals are primary irritants of the skin or eyes. Although employee risks associated with chemicals have been neglected all too frequently, attention finally is being directed to assessing and reducing these risks. Among the toxic substances that present health hazards to health care providers are disinfecting and sterilizing compounds, chemotherapeutic agents and anesthetic gases.

Type
Program Summaries
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 10 , Issue 6 , June 1989 , pp. 261 - 266
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Lewy, R: Organization and conduct of a hospital occupational health service, in Emmett, EA (ed): Occupational Medicine: State of the Art Reviews. Philadelphia, Hanley & Belfus Inc. 1987; 12(3): 617–638.Google Scholar
2. Air contaminants: Final rule (29 CFR Part 1910). Federal Register 1989; 54(Jan 19).Google Scholar
3. American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists: Threshold Limit Values and Biological Exposure Indices for 1988-1989. Cincinnati, Ohio, AGGIH, 1988.Google Scholar
4. Code of federal regulations: Labor. (29 CFR Parts 1900-1910). Federal Register 1988 (July 1).Google Scholar
5. Patterson, WB, Craven, DE, Schwartz, DA. et al: Occupational hazards to hospital personnel. Ann Intern Med 1985; 102: 658–680.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6. Crawford, B: Chemotherapeutic agents: Possible hazards of unnecessary exposure. Infection Control and Urological Care 1983; 3: 2–4.Google Scholar
7. Selevan, SG, Lindbohm, M-L, Hornung, RW. et al: A study of occupational exposure to antineoplastic drugs and fetal loss in nurses. N Engl J Med 1985; 313: 1173–1178.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health: Guidelines for Protecting the Safety and Health of Health Care Workers, US Dept of Health and Human Services. NIOSH publication No. 88-119. Government Printing Office. 1988.Google Scholar
9. Montgomery, AB, Luce, JM, Turner, J: Aerosolized pentamidine as sole therapy for Pneumocystic carinii pneumonia in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Lancet 1987; 2: 480–483.Google Scholar
10. Debs, RJ, Blumenfeld, W, Brunette, EN, et al: Successful treatment with aerosolized pentamidine of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in rats. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1987; 31: 37–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11. Rodriguez, WJ, Dang Bui, RH, Connor, JD, et al: Environmental exposure of primary care personnel to ribavirin aerosol when supervising treatment of infants with respiratory syncytial virus infections. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1987; 31: 1143–1146.Google Scholar
12. Centers for Disease Control: Assessing exposures of health-care personnel to aerosols of ribavirin—California. MMWR 1988; 37: 560–563.Google Scholar
13. Norfleet, EA, Hackney, RW. Waterson, CK: Inhalation anesthetic toxicity: Controlling occupational exposure in the clinical environment, in Huisingh, D, Miller, SJ (eds): The North Carolina Health Care Providers Compendium for the Management of Toxic and Hazardous Substances. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC. 1987, pp 61–94.Google Scholar