Latex Allergen Reservoirs in Two Hospital Buildings

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cox-Ganser, Jean M. ; Kullman, Greg J. ; Rao, Carol Y. ; Weissman, David N.
• Description:
  An investigation was conducted in two hospital buildings that provide tertiary healthcare services for North-central Montana. Although powdered latex glove use was being phased out, there were concerns over potential reservoirs and airborne exposures of latex allergen. We evaluated latex allergen concentrations in air and in settled dusts collected from floors, chairs, and ventilation systems. Air sampling and ventilation dust microvacuum sampling were conducted using 2micrometer pore size, 37-millimeter (mm) polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) filters in open faced cassettes. Air sampling time was during the hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for four days. Floor and chair dusts were collected onto 142rum diameter glass fiber filters with a commercial vacuum. The filters and dusts were analyzed for latex allergen using a competitive inhibition immunoassay. Latex concentrations in air were below the limit of detection for the method (LOD = 0.16 ng latex allergen/m3). Hospital B had significantly higher concentrations of latex allergen in ventilation system dust than Hospital A. Latex concentrations in ventilation system dust ranged from
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Dust Environmental Monitoring Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Hypersensitivity Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety Ventilation
• Keywords:
  Air-sampling Airborne-dusts Airborne-particles Allergens Dust-particles Dusts Health-care Health-care-facilities Particulate-dust Particulates Ventilation-systems

  More +
• Publisher:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies ; HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  23-24
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20022754
• Citation:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 10-15, 2003, Dallas, Texas. Fairfax, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 2003 May; :23-24
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• NORA Priority Area:
  Disease and Injury: Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 10-15, 2003, Dallas, Texas
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b7a353ebaf0181f53c1dfe0d0fe05c6c123310f392ccb1d888c6ab3c94759b3d330822d201b885a606baaae9332161e4edf3d6079048b409aa1c6581ab012516
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/199410/cdc_199410_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 820.43 KB ]