Chemical risk in hospital settings: Overview on monitoring strategies and international regulatory aspects.

Abstract

Chemical risk in hospital settings is a growing concern that health professionals and supervisory authorities must deal with daily. Exposure to chemical risk is quite different depending on the hospital department involved and might origin from multiple sources, such as the use of sterilizing agents, disinfectants, detergents, solvents, heavy metals, dangerous drugs, and anesthetic gases. Improving prevention procedures and constantly monitoring the presence and level of potentially toxic substances, both in workers (biological monitoring) and in working environments (environmental monitoring), might significantly reduce the risk of exposure and contaminations. The purpose of this article is to present an overview on this subject, which includes the current international regulations, the chemical pollutants to which medical and paramedical personnel are mainly exposed, and the strategies developed to improve safety conditions for all healthcare workers.Significance for public healthChemical risk in hospital settings is a growing concern that health professionals and supervisory authorities must deal with daily; acute and chronic exposure to commonly used compounds such as formaldehyde, organic solvents, anesthetic gases and anticancer drugs may lead to severe health effects for medical and paramedical personnel. This paper describes several aspects of chemical risk assessment in hospital settings by focusing both on regulatory aspects and monitoring strategies.