A study of worker isoflurane exposure levels in Australian veterinary workplaces.

Isoflurane is commonly used in veterinary clinics to anesthetize patients and has known acute and chronic health effects. Exposure to isoflurane should be kept as low as reasonably achievable, to minimize the risk of potential health impacts on workers. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness...

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Publicado en:Journal of Occupational & Environmental Hygiene Vol. 22; no. 3; pp. 228 - 238
Autores principales: Johnson, Louisa, Johnstone, Kelly
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Mar2025
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Mar2025
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      pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd
      place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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        10.1080/15459624.2024.2439808
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        atl: A study of worker isoflurane exposure levels in Australian veterinary workplaces.
      aug:
        au:
          Johnson, Louisa
          Johnstone, Kelly
        affil: SAFERVETS, Melbourne, Australia
      sug:
        subj:
          Occupational Exposure Prevention and Control
          Occupational Exposure Evaluation
          Occupational Hazards Prevention and Control
          Isoflurane
          Employees Psychosocial Factors
          Veterinary Medicine Australia
          Environmental Monitoring
          Human
          Funding Source
          Australia
          Occupational Safety Equipment and Supplies
          Anesthetics
          Descriptive Statistics
          Occupational Safety Standards
      ab: Isoflurane is commonly used in veterinary clinics to anesthetize patients and has known acute and chronic health effects. Exposure to isoflurane should be kept as low as reasonably achievable, to minimize the risk of potential health impacts on workers. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of recommended hazard controls for the management of isoflurane exposure to veterinary staff performing regular anesthesia procedures in equine and small animal settings. Isoflurane exposures were assessed via personal passive sampling using a gas and vapor monitor. It was found that when commonly recommended controls are utilized, including active scavenging systems, leak testing circuitry before use, using a cuffed endotracheal tube, avoiding chamber or mask inductions, and recovering the patient on pure oxygen before disconnection from anesthetic circuitry, worker exposures were below the lowest international Occupational Exposure Standard (OEL) of 2 ppm, in both an equine and small animal setting, with exposures in the equine clinic results having an estimated arithmetic mean of 0.52 ppm (GSD = 1.52) and exposures in the small animal clinics results having an estimated arithmetic mean of 0.34 ppm (GSD = 2.06). Results indicate that additional hazard controls could reduce exposures further and include limiting the total minutes of exposure to isoflurane, delivering the lowest effective isoflurane % to the patient, minimizing the number of times vaporizers are refilled during a work shift, and ensuring that surgery room ventilation is maximized.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
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    language: English
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