Respiratory effects of occupational exposure to aerosolized pentamidine

Details

• Personal Author:
  Balmes JR ; Blanc, Paul ; Corkery K ; Estacio PL ; Kelly T ; Quinlan P
• Description:
  A prospective study was designed to measure ambient concentrations of pentamidine (100334) in San Francisco Bay Area treatment rooms and assess the potential for adverse respiratory effects resulting from exposure to these concentrations. The study group included 16 health care workers (HCWs) who gave scheduled aerosolized pentamidine (AP) therapy to patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection at nine facilities. Subjects recorded symptoms twice daily and made peak expiratory flow rate measurements four times a day for 3 weeks. The personal breathing zone was sampled for each participant for at least one full workshift. Concentrations of AP in the personal breathing zone samples ranged from less than 0.03 to 62.2 micrograms/cubic meter. No personal respiratory protective equipment was used by the workers except at one site, where a half face mask respirator was used. Various local exhaust ventilation and air movement controls were in place at the sites. Personal breathing zone concentrations of pentamidine were significantly associated with the number of treatments administered. Pentamidine was not detected in the urine of any of the subjects. There was a statistically significant decrease in forced expiratory volume in 1 second after a workshift during which pentamidine was administered. The authors recommend that efforts be made to reduce exposure to AP in health care workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Environmental Monitoring Health Personnel Lung Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory Function Tests Respiratory System Safety
• Keywords:
  Air-quality-monitoring Health-care-personnel Humans Lung-irritants NIOSH-Cooperative-Agreement NIOSH-Publication Occupational-exposure Pulmonary-function-tests
• ISSN:
  1076-2752
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  145-150
• Volume:
  37
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00225295
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Med 1995 Feb; 37(2):145-150
• CAS Registry Number:
  Pentamidine (CAS RN 100-33-4)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1995
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7a82e4029e6508c20e702dfb2e46c568eff000ec1ad57a6e107691797ca41b39898a7c98114fd5f9e41cf6da67a91df8e822740e42da9222f2a8292ebb533d13
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/205506/cdc_205506_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 613.71 KB ]