Sampling for airborne fluorouracil in a hospital drug preparation area

Fluorouracil content was studied in air samples from a hospital pharmacy work area where a vertical laminar-airflow biological safety cabinet (BSC) vented into the work area was used for the preparation of antineoplastic drugs. The BSC was run 24 hours per day and used approximately 6 hours per day. During one 56-hour period and one 95-hour period, a portable pump delivering room air at 2 L/min was positioned 12 inches outside the BSC. Fluorouracil content in extracts from 0.5-micron Teflon filters housed in the pump was assayed by high-performance liquid chromatography. The assay's lower limit of fluorouracil detection was 0.2 ng/cu m air. In the 56-hour sampling period and the 96-hour sampling periods, 25.4 g and 25 g, respectively, of fluorouracil were prepared. No fluorouracil was detectable in the filter extracts. Use of an appropriate biological safety cabinet in conjunction with good aseptic technique and the recommended procedures for safe handling of antineoplastic drugs may reduce the potential for dispersal of drug into the pharmacy workroom environment.