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Dust entry

Antineoplastic pharmaceutical dust

Pharmaceutical dust generated during automated dispensing, manual filling, cleaning, repair, and packaging of hazardous drugs.

Airborne form

dust

The form describes what is suspended in air at the point of exposure. A material can produce more than one form, such as dust during handling and fume during heating.

Health effects

eye irritationnasal irritationthroat irritationskin irritationcoughhazardous-drug exposure concern

Evidence

A NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation at a mail-order pharmacy found more work-associated eye, nose, throat, and skin irritation and cough among contractor employees than company employees, while no employees reported health changes consistent with hazardous-drug exposure. Air sampling indicated that workers cleaning or repairing automated dispensing cells, refilling canisters, using canned air on counters, or hand-filling hazardous-drug prescriptions could be exposed to airborne dust from uncoated tablets; inhalation exposures to active pharmaceutical ingredients were mostly below manufacturers’ occupational exposure limits.

Source: html ↗ · saved source
Abstract · 1
Contractor employees ... reported more eye, nose, throat, and skin irritation and cough associated with work ... air sampling results indicated that employees who clean or repair automatic dispensing machine cells ... and hand-fill hazardous drug prescriptions may be exposed to airborne dust from uncoated tablets. Inhalation exposures to active pharmaceutical ingredients were mostly below manufacturers' occupational exposure limits.

A NIOSH pharmaceutical-manufacturing HHE found that hand-scooping powder during tablet pressing generated the highest measured dust levels; it notes that dust containing active pharmaceutical ingredients can cause allergic reactions and upper-respiratory irritation.

Source: pdf ↗ · saved source
page 2 · Our Key Findings; Our Recommendations · 1–2
During some work activities, respirable dust levels, which are the levels of dust the lungs breathe in, could be very high for short periods of time. During tablet pressing, hand-scooping powder generated the highest dust levels compared with other tasks we measured. ... Sometimes employees used powder that contained active pharmaceutical ingredients. Exposure to this dust can cause health problems like allergic reactions and upper respiratory irritation.

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