Occupational exposure to anti-cancer drugs: A review of effects of new technology.

Because anti-cancer drugs are non-selective, they affect both cancerous and non-cancerous cells. Being carcinogenic and mutagenic, many anticancer drugs therefore present a major health risk to healthcare staff working with them. This paper reviews the means by which exposure to anti-cancer drugs in the workplace may be monitored, assessed and reduced. Both biological monitoring, using non-selective methods or compound-selective methods, and environmental monitoring have provided information on the nature and degree of exposure in the workplace. Pharmaceutical isolators, used for the compounding of cytotoxic IV infusions and the preparation of injectable drugs, provide a physical barrier between pharmacists and cytotoxic drugs and reduce direct exposure. However, the interior of isolators and the contents thereof (e.g. infusion bags and syringes) are readily contaminated by aerosols and spillages and afford a secondary source of exposure to pharmacists, nurses and cleaning staff. Closed system transfer devices (CSTDs), designed to prohibit the transfer of contaminants into the working environment during drug transfer between the vial and syringe, have been successful in further reducing, but not eliminating surface contamination. Given that the number of patients requiring treatment with chemotherapeutic agents is predicted to increase, further efforts to reduce occupational exposure to anti-cancer drugs, including the refinement and wider use of CTSDs, are recommended.

Platinum-based anticancer drugs in waste waters of a major UK hospital and predicted concentrations in recipient surface waters.

Concentrations of the cytotoxic platinum-based anticancer drugs, as total Pt, have been measured over a three week period in one of the main drains and in the effluent of the oncology ward of a major UK hospital (Derriford, Plymouth). Concentrations of Pt were highly variable in both discharges, and ranged from about 0.02 to 140 µg L(-1) in the oncology effluent and from about 0.03 to 100 µg L(-1) in the main drain. A comparison of drug administration figures over the study period with an estimate of the quantity of Pt discharged through the drains suggests that about 22% of total Pt is emitted to the environment from the hospital with the remainder being discharged by treated patients in the wider community. Administration figures for the three Pt-based drugs used in the hospital (cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin) coupled with published measurements on the removal of the drugs by conventional sewage treatment allowed the concentrations of Pt arising from each drug to be predicted in recipient surface waters as a function of water flow rate. For conditions representative of the region under study, concentrations of total Pt between a few tens and in excess of 100 pg L(-1) are predicted, with the principal form of the metal occurring as carboplatin and its metabolites. Although predicted concentrations are below EMEA guidelines warranting further risk assessment, the presence of substances in surface waters that are potentially carcinogenic, mutagenic and teratogenic and yet whose environmental effects are not understood is cause for concern.

An ethnozoological study in the adjoining areas of Mount Abu wildlife sanctuary, India.

BACKGROUND: There is evidence that human beings are familiar with use of animals for food, cloth, medicine, etc. since ancient times. Enormous work has been done on ethnobotany and traditional medicine. Like plants, animal and their products are also possessing medicinal properties that can be exploited for the benefit of human beings. In India, many ethnic communities are dispersed all over the country and these people are still totally depended on local traditional medicinal system for their health care. India is gifted with faunal and floral biodiversity, Mount Abu wildlife sanctuary is also one of them, and thus the aim of this work was to take an ethnozoological field survey among Garasiya people (main tribal group of this area) in the adjoining areas of this sanctuary. METHOD: In order to document the ethnozoological information about animal and their products prevalent among these people in the adjoining area of Mount Abu wildlife sanctuary, a study was carried out from January, 2008 to April, 2008. Data were collected through semi-structured questionnaire and open interview with 25 (16 male and 9 female) selected Garasiya people. The name of animal and other ethnozoological information were documented. Photographs and discussion were also recorded with the help of camera and voice recorder. RESULT: A total of 24 animal species were used in 35 different medicinal purposes including asthma, weakness, tuberculosis, cough, paralysis and blister and for other religious purposes. It has been find out that animal used by Garasiya, consist of fourteen mammals, five birds, three reptiles, one arthropods and one amphibian. The meat of Cynopterus sphinx used to relieved fever and cough has the highest FL (96%) although flesh of Sus scrofa and tooth of Elephas maximus have the lowest FL (12%). Some protected species such as Elephas maximus (elephant), Semnopithecus priam (monkey), Cervus unicolor (sambhar) were also mentioned as important medicinal resources. We also found that cough, asthma and other respiratory diseases are the most frequently cited disease, as such, a number of traditional medicine are available for the treatment. CONCLUSION: The present work indicates that 24 animal species were being used to treat 34 various ailments in the surroundings areas of Mount Abu wildlife sanctuary. The results show that ethnozoological practices are an important alternative medicinal practice for the Garasiya people. This study also indicates the very rich ethnozoological knowledge of these people in relation to traditional medicine. So there is an urgent need to properly document to keep a record of the ethnozoological information. We hope that this information will be useful for further research in the field of ethnozoology, ethnopharmacology and conservation point of view.

Speciation and reactivity of Cisplatin in river water and seawater.

The adsorption of the cytostatic anticancer drug, cisplatin (cis-PtCl(2)(NH(3))(2)), has been studied after its addition to suspensions of estuarine sediment in river water and seawater. After a 16 h reaction period, adsorption was significantly greater in river water (sediment-water distribution coefficient, K(D), of 400 mL g(-1)) than that in seawater (K(D) approximately 150 mL g(-1)) because of the ready aquation of cisplatin to the more reactive monoaquacisplatin (cis-PtCl(OH(2))(NH(3))(2)(+)) at low chloride ion concentrations. Adsorption in river water was enhanced (K(D) approximately 2000 mL g(-1)) by a 24 h period of preincubation in the aqueous phase in which aquation proceeded further. The effects of pH on adsorption were relatively small, presumably because protonation-deprotonation of the particle surface was accompanied by near-equivalent shifts in the charge of hydrolysis products of aquated cisplatin. Kinetic experiments revealed a period of slow protracted uptake (up to about 60 h), followed by gradual desorption in both river water and seawater. Results were interpreted in terms of the formation of monoaquacisplatin, its adsorption to the particle surface, and the subsequent desorption of undefined, unreactive species. Kinetic data were modeled with a sequence of pseudofirst-order reactions and fits were obtained with forward and reverse rate constants for aquation of 1.79 x 10(-5) and 1.84 x 10(-5) s(-1) in river water and 5.50 x 10(-6) and 5.84 x 10(-6) s(-1) in seawater, and adsorption and desorption rate constants of 1.75 x 10(-5) and 0.20 x 10(-5) s(-1) in river water and 0.98 x 10(-5) and 2.8 x 10(-5) s(-1) in seawater. Environmental conditions favoring the retention of cisplatin and its degradation products are low chloride ion concentrations, high turbidities, and long residence or transit times; dispersion of the drug is favored in saline, coastal waters.