Hospitals promote good health, healing, and recovery from surgery and disease. Hospitals, like any other building, can have problems with indoor air quality, drinking water quality, and use of cleaning products and pesticides. In addition, hospitals have some unique environmental concerns that can affect staff, patients or both, as well as the community. 

Hospital workers can be exposed to a surprising number of chemicals that may be harmful to their health. Some of those chemicals are used in hospital equipment, including mercury, used in some thermometers; ethylene oxide and glutaraldehyde, both used to sterilize medical equipment; and formaldehyde, used to preserve tissues in medical labs and mortuaries. Hospital workers may be exposed to anesthetic gases that leak during medical procedures. Some of the chemicals in those gases may cause nausea, dizziness, sterility, miscarriages, birth defects, cancer, and liver and kidney disease. Hospital workers may handle hazardous drugs used for cancer chemotherapy, antiviral medication, hormones, and others. These hazardous drugs may cause skin rashes, infertility, miscarriage, birth defects, and possibly leukemia or other cancers. If hospital workers use latex gloves, they may develop latex allergies or occupational asthma. 

Patients may be exposed to the same chemicals as hospital workers. In addition, they may use plastic medical devices that could contain dioxin and phthalates. 

If a hospital incinerates its medical waste, hospital workers and the community may be exposed to air pollutants emitted by the incinerator. Medical waste needs to be handled with care to protect workers, patients and the community.

Web Links from MedlinePlus (National Library of Medicine)
Occupational Health for Healthcare Providers

More Links
Going Green: A Resource Kit for Pollution Prevention in Health Care (Health Care Without Harm)
Health Care Without Harm home page (Health Care Without Harm)
Health Care Workers (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health)
Health. Haz-Map Occupational Health Info (National Library of Medicine)
Healthcare Facilities (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)
Healthcare Waste Management home page (World Health Organization)
Hospital eTool (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)
Hospitals for a Healthy Environment home page (H2E)
Infectious Aerosols (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health)
Nursing Home eTool: Occupational Hazards in Long Term Care (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)
Nursing Homes and Personal Care Facilities (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)

Chemicals in the Hospital
Are these chemicals in MY environment?
Acetone
Ammonia
Arsenic
Asbestos
Benzene
Carbon Dioxide
Carbon Monoxide
Chlorine
Formaldehyde
Lead
Mercury
Natural Gas
Nitrogen Oxides
Particulate Matter
Pesticides
Phthalates
Polychlorinated Biphenyls
Propane
Radon
Solvents
Sulfur Dioxide
Toluene
Volatile Organic Compounds

Last Updated: November 10, 2008