According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 8 million US healthcare workers are exposed to hazardous drugs (HDs) every year. Drugs classified as hazardous include cancer therapy, antiviral drugs, hormones, and bioengineered drugs.
More than 12 billion doses of HDs are handled by US providers each year. Anyone handling HDs is at risk of exposure to acute and long-term effects including hair loss, cardiac toxicity, kidney damage, hearing loss, nausea, rashes, cancer, and infertility.
USP <800> provides standards for safe handling of hazardous drugs to minimize the risk of exposure to healthcare personnel, patients, and the environment. ARL Bio Pharma provides surface wipe sampling testing to measure the level of hazardous drug residue in areas where exposure can occur:
- Inside of C-PEC
- Pass through chambers
- Staging and work surfaces
- Floors and dispensing areas
- Outside HD buffer room or C-SCA
- Patient Administration
Surface Wipe Sampling evaluates your deactivating, decontaminating, disinfecting, and cleaning procedures. USP recommends sampling initially as a benchmark and at least every 6 months to verify containment of HDs.
The test is easy and inexpensive. Purchase a swab (TexWipe TX714K), swab area to be tested, collect sample, and submit sample for analysis.
Please do not submerge sample in a liquid, send swab only.
The cost is per swab - $200. One hazardous drug per swab.
A list of hazardous drugs (including hormones and cancer treatments) can be found in USP <800> and on the NIOSH Hazardous Drug List.
Available Hazardous Drugs for Testing
Contact ARL at info@arlok.com or 800-393-1595 for more information on Surface Wipe Sampling.