IS FOR HAZARDS AT HOSPITALS SKC is pleased to provide elp in sampling for target compounds. H

COMMON CHEMICAL HAZARDS IN HOSPITALS ANESTHETIC GASES Halothane, Isoflurane Desflurane, Enflurane Sevoflurane STERILANT GASES Ethylene Oxide STERILANT LIQUIDS Glutaraldehyde Hydrogen Peroxide Peracetic acid SOLVENTS Formaldehyde

ANESTHETIC GASES DEFINING THE HAZARD U.S. NIOSH has published a document that describes the occupational hazards of waste anesthetic gases in hospitals. See http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2007-151/pdfs/2007-151.pdf.

NIOSH DEFINES THE WORKERS POTENTIALLY EXPOSED Workers in operating facilities with no automatic ventilation or scavenging systems or operating facilities where these systems are in poor condition Workers in recovery rooms where gases exhaled by recovering patients are not properly vented or scavenged  

ANESTHETIC GASES ACTIVE SAMPLING METHODS Enflurane, halothane, and isoflurane can be sampled using sorbent tubes containing Anasorb® 747 sorbent to assess short-term (15-minute) or long-term (2-hour) exposures by OSHA Method 103. SKC 226-81A

ANESTHETIC GASES PASSIVE SAMPLING METHOD SKC research chemists have validated the use of SKC 575-002 diffusive sampler containing 500 mg of Anasorb 747 to sample the halogenated anesthetic gases. SKC 575-002

ANESTHETIC GASES SKC PASSIVE SAMPLER VALIDATION The SKC 575-002 was fully validated for isoflurane and halothane and partially validated for desflurane, enflurane, and sevoflurane. See the complete validation report at https://www.skcinc.com/catalog/pdf/1893.pdf.

STERILANT GASES DEFINING THE HAZARD Ethylene oxide (EtO) gas sterilizers have been used by hospitals for many years to sterilize surgical equipment and supplies that cannot tolerate excessive heat, moisture, or abrasive chemicals. NIOSH has a criteria document on this topic at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/1970/77-200.html.

ETHYLENE OXIDE ACTIVE SAMPLING METHOD Ethylene oxide can be sampled using sorbent tubes containing chemically coated Anasorb 747 sorbent to assess short-term (15-minute) or long-term (4-hour) exposures by OSHA Method 1010. SKC 226-178

ETHYLENE OXIDE PASSIVE SAMPLING METHOD Passive samplers containing the same sorbent specified in OSHA 1010 can be used to assess TWA or short-term exposures. The validation done by SKC chemists can be reviewed at https://www.skcinc.com/catalog/pdf/1543.pdf. SKC 575-005

STERILANT LIQUIDS DEFINING THE HAZARD New chemical agents are now being used to sterilize surgical tools, diagnostic instruments, and surfaces. NIOSH recently published a report on a hospital cleaner containing multiple chemical agents that has caused health effects on exposed workers. See http://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2016/04/29/hospital-cleaning-staff/. LSO

GLUTARALDEHYDE ACTIVE SAMPLING METHOD Cassettes containing 2 glass fiber filters treated with 2,4-DNPH and phosphoric acid can be used at flow rates up to 2 L/min to assess short-term (5 to15 minute) or long-term (4-hour) exposures by OSHA Method 64. SKC 225-9003

GLUTARALDEHYDE PASSIVE SAMPLING METHOD The SKC UMEX 100 passive sampler that contains a chemically coated tape can be used to sample glutaraldehyde using a calculated sampling rate of 14 ml/min. SKC 500-100

HYDROGEN PEROXIDE ACTIVE SAMPLING METHOD U.S. OSHA released Method 1019 in 2016 for the collection of hydrogen peroxide using chemically coated filters SKC 225-9030. This was a welcome replacement to previous methods using impingers.

PERACETIC ACID ACTIVE SAMPLING METHOD There is no U.S. agency sampling method available at this time for peracetic acid. SKC supplies a chemically coated silica gel tube to meet the requirements of a French agency method. SKC 226-193-UC or 226-199-UC. The flow rate of 1 L/min is critical in achieving reliable results. Given the high pressure drop of the sample media, heavy duty pumps such as the SKC AirChek Touch or XR5000 should be used.

SOLVENTS DEFINING THE HAZARD There can be a large number of various solvents in hospital laboratories and research facilities. Formaldehyde is used principally as a water-based solution called formalin and is a bactericide, tuberculocide, fungicide, virucide, and sporicide. 

FORMALDEHYDE ACTIVE SAMPLING METHODS There are a number of agency methods using sorbent tubes for formaldehyde: OSHA 52 using coated XAD-2 tubes SKC 226-117 (TWAs) or 226-54 (STELs) NIOSH 2541 using coated XAD-2 tubes SKC 226-118 NIOSH 2016 using coated silica gel tubes SKC 226-119

FORMALDEHYDE PASSIVE SAMPLING METHOD The SKC UMEX 100 passive sampler has been validated by OSHA Method 1007 for 15-minute STELs or 8-hour TWA compliance sampling. Note: OSHA requires that active sampling be done when the source of formaldehyde is formalin due to chemistry reasons. SKC 500-100

BIOLOGICAL HAZARDS IN HOSPITALS INCLUDE KNOWN STRAINS OF Bacteria Viruses Fungi Other microorganisms ALSO INCLUDE NEW PATHOGENS FOR SARs MRSA Bird Flu

AIR SAMPLING FOR VIABLE BACTERIA AND FUNGI The SKC BioStage is a single-stage cascade impactor used to collect viable samples following NIOSH Methods 0800 and 0801. Growth medium (agar) in standard culture plates is supplied by an environmental microbiology lab for use with this sampler. SKC 225-9611

PUMP PARTNER FOR THE SKC BIOSTAGE The SKC Biostage can be attached directly to the SKC QuickTake 30 pump using the mounting bracket. Flow rates of 28.3 L/min for sample times of 5 minutes or less are typically used. SKC 228-9530K

SPECIAL NOTE ON SAMPLING FOR VIRUSES ACGIH reports that air sampling for viruses is not routinely done for indoor air studies. Viruses do not remain long in the environment and do not multiply alone on organic substrates. Research and public health agencies may do air sampling to research transmission of airborne viral diseases. This technique was used by NIOSH during the SARs response.

AIR SAMPLING OPTIONS VIRUSES The evaluation method chosen to collect viral samples depends on the virus itself, the environmental conditions, and the analysis techniques available.

SAMPLING FOR MRSA Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) is normally found as a surface contaminant. Sterile swabs are typically used for sampling followed by growth culture. SKC 225-2402

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