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Dust entry

Pharmaceutical active-ingredient and lactose dust

Airborne dust containing pharmaceutical active ingredients and lactose documented during cleaning, canister replenishment, and hand-filling work in a mail-order pharmacy.

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

respiratory irritation concerneye irritation concernactive-ingredient exposure concern

Evidence

NIOSH found that mail-order pharmacy employees could be exposed to dust containing pharmaceutical active ingredients, particularly during cell cleaning, canister replenishment, and hand filling; air samples contained lactose and one or more active pharmaceutical ingredients, indicating that some airborne dust came from pharmaceuticals.

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Description · 1
We identified releases of dust during the cleaning, repairing, and refilling of cells and canisters. We sampled the air for different sizes of dust particles and analyzed the samples for active pharmaceutical ingredient (APIs) and lactose, a common ingredient of pharmaceuticals. Most of these air samples contained lactose and one or more APIs, suggesting that some of the airborne dust came from pharmaceuticals.

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