抄録
Pharmacists who handle antitumor drugs are at risk of exposure when they prepare, administer and dispose of antitumor drugs. Although concern for surface contamination of antitumor drugs has gradually grown in Japan, which drugs are contaminated and to what extent have not been verified. In this study, we performed a questionnaire survey to clarify the actual state of occupational exposure for several pharmaceutical companies. We chose drugs frequently used in the National Hospital Organization, which could cause occupational exposure, and studied such antitumor drugs at the injection vial surface by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). We selected the following objects of drug vials; 5-FU, cyclophosphamide, gemcitabine, pemetrexed and paclitaxel as hazardous and frequently used drugs for chemotherapy. The surfaces of these drug vials were measured using LC-MS/MS under respective experimental conditions. The state of surface contamination varied by the respective drug vials. Most vials of cyclophosphamide and gemcitabine were contaminated by their contents, whereas the contamination of 5-FU and pemetrexed were detected only in several lots with very low amounts. Contamination by paclitaxel was not detected in any of the three lots. It is important to publicize the potential of contamination and an appropriate handling procedure to minimize exposure by antitumor drugs. Furthermore, pharmaceutical companies should supply safer products and play a more active role in the disclosure of information on their products.
