Comparing BTEX concentration related to surgical smoke in different operating rooms.

The available evidence on the indoor air quality of operating rooms (ORs) in the Low- and Middle-income Countries (LMICs) is very scarce. Moreover, there is no study on the comparing the concentration of indoor air pollutants in different ORs. Therefore, this study aimed to measure and compare the benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) concentrations in the air of different ORs in hospitals of Sabzevar, Iran. Moreover, carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk of exposure to these pollutants were assessed using Monte Carlo simulations technique. This cross-sectional study was based on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) passive sampling of eight ORs including General surgery, Curettage, Eye surgery, Neurosurgery, Orthopedic, Laparoscopic, Cesarean and Ear, nose, throat (ENT) in two monthly campaigns from November 2019 to February 2020. One-way ANOVA and Post-hoc analyses were used to compare the concentration of BTEX compounds in different ORs. The overall mean (standard deviation (SD)) of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene and total BTEX concentrations were 10.0 (1.8), 7.2 (1.9), 1.8 (0.6), 0.4 (0.2) and 19.4 (4.1) µg/m3. The Curettage OR had the highest (12.93 µg/m3) and ENT OR had the lowest (7.42 µg/m3) benzene concentrations. The highest concentrations of toluene, ethylbenzene and total BTEX were observed in General surgery OR. The cancer risks of exposure to benzene in all ORs were higher than the acceptable range recommended by Unite State Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA, 1 × 106). However, the hazard quotient (HQ) values for all ORs were at safe level (HQ < 1). Overall, our study suggested that the concentrations of BTEX compounds were significantly difference in different ORs and benzene had a carcinogenic risk for personnel and surgical staff in different ORs.