Development of a new method for sampling and monitoring oncology staff exposed to cyclophosphamide drug

Treatment using cytotoxic drugs is considered to be the most common treatment for cancers. However, the widespread use of these drugs on the health status of the staff at the oncology department has become a great concern. Due to challenges of sampling and analysis of cytotoxic drugs, the aim of this study was to development a novel practical method called Needle trap devices (NTD) for sampling and analysis of personal exposure to cyclophosphamide drug. The sampler consisted of a stainless steel hyper needle gauge 21 of length 9 cm packed with Carboxen 1000 for adsorbing cyclophosphamide. A total of 41 samples of staff's air breathing zone in different wards of the oncology department were taken with the sampler. Samples were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with electron capture detector (ECD). Linear range concentration was 212-1062 μg/m(3), and LOD and LOQ were 100 and 191 μg/m(3), respectively. The mean inter-day and intra-day coefficient variations for standards within linear range concentration were 8.9 and 4.8 %, respectively. Detectable levels of cyclophosphamide were measured in 31.7 % of air samples. The developed method is user-friendly, quick, and precise for sampling of airborne cyclophosphamide. The results showed that some staff of the oncology department were exposed to the carcinogenic drug and their health were at risk. Since carcinogens do not have a threshold and oncology staffs with their continuous exposure might be at risk, therefore, proper work practice and adequate control measures are essential to ensure their wellbeing.