Chemical substances pose a risk to workers in several industries, but knowledge about exposure levels to hazardous drugs such as cytotoxic drugs in the healthcare sector is lacking.
Background
In 2019, the use of hazardous drugs, including cytotoxic drugs, was included under the minimum requirements for carcinogenic and mutagenic substances to protect the health and safety of workers. New guidelines to support the safe use of hazardous drugs in the workplace are under development, and in December 2021, the European Parliament proposed to also include reprotoxic chemicals.
This will require development of new methods and protocols for measuring chemical exposure in the workplace, especially during periods of higher susceptibility, such as during pregnancy.
What We Are Investigating in the Project
The project is being conducted in collaboration with Oslo University hospital with a focus on exposure to hazardous drugs, specifically cytotoxic drugs.
In the project, exposure assessment of cytotoxic drugs in the work environment will be performed and biological samples such as blood, urine, and skin swabs from workers will be collected. These will be analyzed for exposure markers (cytotoxic drugs and metabolites), as well as effect biomarkers such as DNA damage markers and markers for inflammation. In addition, information about exposure will be collected through an exposure diary.
The project will use new measurement methods and provide new knowledge about chemical exposure in the healthcare sector. This will provide a better foundation for risk assessment and help map tasks should be prioritized in terms of exposure-reducing measures to ensure health and safety of workers.
External Partners in PARC:
In this project, STAMI collaborates with 13 different European institutes under the leadership of Tiina Santonen (TTL, FI) and Paul Scheepers (RU, NL).
Financial Contributors:
Horizon Europe (EU)
More Information About the Research Program:
https://www.eu-parc.eu/
Project Leader:
Johanna Samulin-Erdem
Project Participants:
Jenny-Anne Lie
Dagfinn Matre
Oda H. Foss
Mina B. Eriksen
Shan Narui
Steen Mollerup
More information is to be found on the Norwegian project page.