Evaluation of Occupational Exposures to Illicit Drugs at Forensic Sciences Laboratories

Details

• Personal Author:
  Broadwater, Kendra R. ; Jackson, David A. ; Li, Jessica F.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  The NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation (HHE) Program received a request from managers at a state police forensic sciences division concerned about potential occupational exposure to illicit drugs among employees working in their eight controlled substances laboratories. Employees of the facilities performed forensic analysis on a wide variety of evidence collected by a variety of submitting law enforcement agencies. We visited seven of the eight laboratory facilities at least once and four of these laboratories a second time to learn more about work-related health concerns and to measure work-related exposures among employees in the controlled substances units (CSUs). We measured exposures to cocaine, fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine in air, on hands, and on surfaces in the CSU laboratories and office areas
  
  assessed the ventilation chemical hoods and the airflow among laboratory areas, hallways, and administrative areas
  
  held confidential medical interviews
  
  tested chemists' urine for cocaine, fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and several metabolites (breakdown products) of these drugs
  
  and reviewed the relevant records. We found work-related exposures to controlled substances being handled at work. Cocaine, fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine were found in air and wipe samples
  
  and cocaine and its metabolite, fentanyl and its metabolite, and methamphetamine were found in employee urine. No symptoms associated with exposure to cocaine, fentanyl, heroin, or methamphetamine were reported. While the health and safety written programs were thorough, we identified potential factors that contributed to workplace exposures. We provided recommendations to assist the laboratories in minimizing exposures to these substances. These recommendations included improving and enforcing existing workplace practices meant to reduce occupational exposure to controlled substances: changing evidence handling policies, improving access to ventilated workspaces, improving hand hygiene, using personal protective equipment consistently, and cleaning laboratory workplaces in accordance with the safety manual.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Emergency Responders Engineering Law Enforcement Narcotics Occupational Health Particulate Matter Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety Staff Development

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• Keywords:
  Airborne Particles Airborne Particulates Cocaine Drugs Emergency Responders Engineering Controls Fentanyl Forensic Chemist Forensic Laboratory Forensic Scientist Heroin Illicit Drug Laboratory Workers Law Enforcement Law Enforcement Officer Law Enforcement Workers LEO Methamphetamine Opioid OSHA Region 5 Personal Protective Equipment Police Officers Police Protection PPE Respiratory Protection Respiratory Protective Equipment Training

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• Source:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HHE 2018-0116-3370, 2020 Mar ; :1-50
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE201801163370
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  50 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Booher, Donald E. ; Chiu, Sophia ; Feldmann, Karl ; Gerona, Roy ; Grant, Michael P. ; Hamilton, Cheryl ; Moore, Kevin ; Reckers, Andrew ; Sammons, Deborah ; Watts, Shawna ; Zhou, Michael
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20059029
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2022-100299
• Citation:
  NIOSH [2020]. Evaluation of occupational exposures to illicit drugs at forensic sciences ; laboratories. By Broadwater KR, Jackson DA, Li JF. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health ; and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for ; Occupational Safety and Health, Health Hazard Evaluation Report 2018-0116-3370,
• CAS Registry Number:
  Cocaine (CAS RN 50-36-2) ; Methamphetamine (CAS RN 537-46-2) ; Fentanyl (CAS RN 437-38-7) ; Heroin (CAS RN 561-27-3)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2020
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  922120 - Police Protection - (NAICS)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:acf1895ca605dd3e4d6449213d132046931d47408368cf58e12a8b0be9120c0a5ba666e6e1a599a42832adaeb36278eb45391eae82a8d4ba9c6a709189960bc1
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172329/cdc_172329_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 782.48 KB ]