What health effects can be caused by exposure to antineoplastic agents?
The following symptoms and health effects have been reported in hospital workers exposed to antineoplastic agents: • Abdominal pain • Coughing • Dizziness • Nausea • Facial flushing • Vomiting • Diarrhea • Skin rashes • Hair loss • Adverse reproductive effects such as disruption of menstrual cycle, fetal loss, and birth defects If you experience any of these health problems when working with antineoplastic agents, report them to your supervisor or safety officer. Statistically significant genotoxic effects and genetic damage (for example, increased micronuclei formation and increases in sister chromatid exchange and chromosomal aberrations) have been reported in hospital pharmacists and nurses exposed to antineoplastic agents. Little information is available about the risk of cancer related to exposure of hospital workers to antineoplastic agents [Burgaz et al. 1999; McDiarmid et al. 1992; Oestreicher et al. 1990]. However, one case of bladder cancer in a pharmacist was attributed to h
