Pharmaceutical dust exposure at pharmacies using automatic dispensing machines: a preliminary study

[helvella]

Next time a pharmacy pushes bulk tablets onto you (e.g. we had a lot of repacking of liothyronine at one time), maybe ask sweetly whether they are OK or could they be suffering from pharmaceutical dust?

(That is written intending to be mildly humorous. Obviously shortages can end up with them having to dispense from bulk packs.)

Pharmaceutical dust exposure at pharmacies using automatic dispensing machines: a preliminary study

We detected 10 APIs in air, including lisinopril, a drug prescribed for high blood pressure, levothyroxine, a drug prescribed for hypothyroidism, and methotrexate, a hazardous drug prescribed for cancer and other disorders. Three air concentrations of lisinopril (1.8-2.7 μg/m(3)) exceeded the lower bound of the manufacturer's hazard control band (1-10 μg/m(3)). All other API air concentrations were below applicable occupational exposure limits. Our findings indicate that some pharmacy employees are exposed to multiple APIs and that measures are needed to control those exposures.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/248...

[TSH110]

Not very good for the staff.

[linda96]

And how much tablet potency is being lost?

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to linda96]

I suspect it would usually be so little as to be totally ignorable.

A few micrograms a day of levothyroxine might be significant for an individual pharmacy staff person, but I think they would only be getting this from handling considerable numbers of tablets.

However, issues like the recent Accord/Northstar recall due to crumbling could well have an impact.

[Batty1]

Oh this might explain my dummy of a pharmacist… lol