Efficiency of four solutions in removing 23 conventional antineoplastic drugs from contaminated surfaces.

Abstract

BackgroundResidual contamination by intravenous conventional antineoplastic drugs (ICAD) is still a daily issue in hospital facilities. This study aimed to compare the efficiency (EffQ) of 4 different solutions to remove 23 widely used ICADs from surfaces.Method and findingsA solution containing 23 ICADs (4 alkylating agents, 8 antimetabolites, 2 topo-I inhibitors, 6 topo-II inhibitors and 3 spindle poisons) was spread over 100 cm2 stainless steel. After drying, decontamination was carried out using 10×10 cm wipes moistened with 300 μL of one of the following solutions: 70% isopropanol (S1); ethanol-hydrogen peroxide 91.6-50.0 mg/g (S2); 10-2 M sodium dodecyl sulphate/isopropanol 80/20 (S3) or 0.5% sodium hypochlorite (S4). Six tests were performed for each decontamination solution. Two modalities were tested: a single wipe motion from top to bottom or vigorous wiping (n = 6 for each modality). Residual contamination was measured with a validated liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry detection method. Solution efficiency (in %) was computed as follows: EffQ = 1-(quantity after decontamination/quantity before decontamination), as median (min-max) for the 23 ICADs. The overall decontamination efficiency (EffQ) of the 4 solutions was compared by a Kruskall-Wallis test. Decontamination modalities were compared for each solution and per ICAD with a Mann-Whitney test (pConclusionDecontamination efficiency depended on the solution used but also on the application modality. An SDS admixture seems to be a good alternative to sodium hypochlorite, notably after vigorous chemical decontamination with no hazard either to materials or workers.