Evaluation of the effectiveness of surface decontamination agents on ten antineoplasic agents

9 October 2011

T. Queruau Lamerie^1,2, S. Nussbaumer³, P. Odou^1,2, J.F. Goossens², S. Souverain-Fleury³, P. Bonnabry³ 1 Institut de Pharmacie, CHRU, Lille, France
2 GRIIOT, EA 4481 Université Lille Nord de France UDSL, Lille, France
3 Pharmacie des Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève et Section des sciences pharmaceutiques, Genève, Suisse

Objective
Evaluation of the effectiveness of decontamination agents on surfaces contaminated by 10 antineoplasic agents .

Method
The following were tested:

Simple solutions: neutral (water), base (sodium hypochlorite), acid (paracetic acid) or organic (isopropanol, acetone).
Complex solutions containing non-ionic (TWEEN, SPAN), anionic (SDS) surfactants, cyclodextrins or a mix of the previously mentioned solutions.
Their evaluation was performed in a standardised manner after surface contamination by 200ng of each cytotoxic. The sampling and qualitative and quantitative analysis (LC-MS/MS) were performed in accordance with a validated method [Nussbaumer S., 2011, Anal Bioanal Chem].

Results
The simple solutions except for sodium hypochlorite (decontamination by 88 to 99% according to the cytostatics) and those containing cyclodextrins showed unsatisfactory results (<70%). The mixes of solutions showed interesting results but were less impressive than those obtained with surfactants (75 to 95%).

Conclusions
Hypochlorite is a choice molecule, but the risk of stainless steel oxidation, its environmental toxicity and degradation products are limiting factors. Surfactants appear promising as they make for an ideal compromise between their relative harmlessness and detergent capacities. Implementation of this procedure in production is currently being studied.