Occupational Exposure to Halogenated Anaesthetic Gases in Hospitals: A Systematic Review of Methods and Techniques to Assess Air Concentration Levels

Marta Keller, Andrea Cattaneo (), Andrea Spinazzè, Letizia Carrozzo, Davide Campagnolo, Sabrina Rovelli, Francesca Borghi, Giacomo Fanti, Silvia Fustinoni, Mariella Carrieri, Angelo Moretto and Domenico Maria Cavallo
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Marta Keller: Department of Science and High Technology, University of Insubria, 22100 Como, Italy
Andrea Cattaneo: Department of Science and High Technology, University of Insubria, 22100 Como, Italy
Andrea Spinazzè: Department of Science and High Technology, University of Insubria, 22100 Como, Italy
Letizia Carrozzo: Department of Science and High Technology, University of Insubria, 22100 Como, Italy
Davide Campagnolo: Department of Science and High Technology, University of Insubria, 22100 Como, Italy
Sabrina Rovelli: Department of Science and High Technology, University of Insubria, 22100 Como, Italy
Francesca Borghi: Department of Science and High Technology, University of Insubria, 22100 Como, Italy
Giacomo Fanti: Department of Science and High Technology, University of Insubria, 22100 Como, Italy
Silvia Fustinoni: IRCCS Ca’ Granda Foundation Maggiore Policlinico Hospital, 20122 Milan, Italy
Mariella Carrieri: Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua, 35122 Padova, Italy
Angelo Moretto: Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua, 35122 Padova, Italy
Domenico Maria Cavallo: Department of Science and High Technology, University of Insubria, 22100 Como, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 20, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Objective During the induction of gaseous anaesthesia, waste anaesthetic gases (WAGs) can be released into workplace air. Occupational exposure to high levels of halogenated WAGs may lead to adverse health effects; hence, it is important to measure WAGs concentration levels to perform risk assessment and for health protection purposes. Methods A systematic review of the scientific literature was conducted on two different scientific databases (Scopus and PubMed). A total of 101 studies, focused on sevoflurane, desflurane and isoflurane exposures in hospitals, were included in this review. Key information was extracted to provide (1) a description of the study designs (e.g., monitoring methods, investigated occupational settings, anaesthetic gases in use); (2) an evaluation of time trends in the measured concentrations of considered WAGs; (3) a critical evaluation of the sampling strategies, monitoring methods and instruments used. Results Environmental monitoring was prevalent (68%) and mainly used for occupational exposure assessment during adult anaesthesia (84% of cases). Real-time techniques such as photoacoustic spectroscopy and infrared spectrophotometry were used in 58% of the studies, while off-line approaches such as active or passive sampling followed by GC-MS analysis were used less frequently (39%). Conclusions The combination of different instrumental techniques allowing the collection of data with different time resolutions was quite scarce (3%) despite the fact that this would give the opportunity to obtain reliable data for testing the compliance with 8 h occupational exposure limit values and at the same time to evaluate short-term exposures.

Keywords: waste anaesthetic gases; hospital staff; inhaled anaesthetics; volatile compounds; operating rooms; healthcare workers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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