Working Conditions and Health Effects of Ethylene Oxide Exposure at Hospital Sterilization Sites

• Published in: Journal of occupational and environmental medicine Vol. 41; no. 6; pp. 492 - 499
• Main Authors: Sobaszek, Annie, Hache, Jean Claude, Frimat, Paul, Akakpo, Vidah, Victoire, George, Furon, Daniel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hagerstown, MD Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 01-06-1999; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Ovid Technologies
• Subjects: Adult; Air Pollution, Indoor - adverse effects; Biological and medical sciences; Chemical and industrial products toxicology. Toxic occupational diseases; Disinfectants - adverse effects; Ethylene Oxide - adverse effects; Female; Gas, fumes; Hospitals; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Occupational Exposure - standards; Occupational Health; ORIGINAL ARTICLES; Personnel, Hospital; Sterilization; Sterilization - standards; Toxicology; Work environment; Workplace; Human; Toxic gas; Health staff; Toxicity; Chemical sterilization; Hospital environment; Occupational exposure; Biological monitoring; Ambient air concentration; Eye disease; Ethylene oxide; Working condition; Disinfecting agent; Occupational medicine
• ISSN: 1076-2752; 1536-5948
• DOI: 10.1097/00043764-199906000-00016

Ethylene oxide (EtO) is a powerful disinfectant and sterilant for heat-sensitive surgical items and instruments. Its use in hospitals constitutes an important source of occupational exposure that is sometimes underestimated, such as in cases of EtO device malfunction when the safety rules of procedure are not stnctly followed or when individual or collective protective equipment is lacking. We carried out a descriptive study of the health care workers who were assigned to sterilization units of the Lille University Hospital Centre in Lille, France (n = 16). Before the modification of the stenlization units in the development of a single, central sterilization site, we studied the workplaces, occupational conditions, and work procedures of the health care workers exposed to EtO. The aim was to assess the nsk of EtO overexposure of the workers in order to improve workers' health and security in the future stenlization center. The study was based on a physical examination, a questionnaire covenng each subject's personal and occupational history, and a complete ocular examination. For occupational conditions, the studies of each workplace were also performed by the occupational physician. Area and personal breathing air samplings were performed at each exposure site. Fourteen of the 16 operators had postenor and anterior subcapsular lens opacities, three of which seemed to be directly and primarily related to occupational exposure; the other ten seemed to be rather common and compatible with age. High levels of EtO exposure were reported in the oldest site (90 parts per million [ppm] during the changing of the gas bottle), where exposure often exceeded French threshold limits (permissible exposure limit: 1 ppm 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) in air; short-term excursion limit: 5 ppm 15-minute TWA in air), or the current US recommended and legal exposure limits for EtO advocated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the American Conference of Governmental Industnal Hygienists (permissible exposure limit: 1 ppm 8-hour TWA in air; excursion limit: 5 ppm 15-minute TWA in air), and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health standard (recommended exposure limits: 0.1 ppm 8-hour TWA in air; 5 ppm 10-minute TWA in air). The faults in the work processes, such as interruption of the stenlization cycle and disregard for the use of protective devices, were very common.