The smoke from electrocautery threatens the health of medical staff and patients in operating rooms (ORs), Taiwan Healthy Air Action Alliance convener Yeh Guang-peng (葉光芃) said yesterday, urging hospitals to install smoke evacuators.
“Surgical smoke contains many biological contaminants, such as carbonized tissue, human papillomavirus bacteria, the hepatitis B virus and other viruses,” Yeh told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan.
Also a gynecologist-obstetrician at Changhua Christian Hospital, Yeh said that a patient can absorb benzene — a kind of volatile organic compound and carcinogen — from the surgical plume through body membranes, and if she is pregnant, it might affect the fetus.
The smoke emitted during a cesarean section can contain more than 71 micrograms per cubic meter of PM2.5 — “purple” on the nation’s air quality index scale, the second-most dangerous level, he added.
One of the studies Yeh cited is “Influence of Surgical Smoke on Indoor Air Quality in Hospital Operating Rooms” by three South Korean researchers published in March in the journal Aerosol and Air Quality Research.
“We used to believe that ORs are sterile, but Yeh’s report showed us that surgical smoke is poisonous,” Taiwan Perioperative Registered Nurses Association director Fu Ling (傅玲) said.
“Nurses with more exposure to surgical smoke are more likely to have heart problems and post-menstrual deaths, along with other allergic conditions such as occupational asthma and sinusitis,” she said.
Yeh called on hospitals nationwide to install smoke evacuators in all ORs, following Changhua Christian Hospital’s lead.
The Ministry of Labor last month published guidelines about preventing dangers associated with surgical smoke, Occupational Safety and Health Administration Secretary-General Hung Ken-chiang (洪根強) said, adding that more training for staff is needed.
Since last year, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has been studying the risks associated with surgical smoke and plans to provide staff with more training, Department of Medical Affairs section chief Lee Chung-yueh (李中月) said.
However, installing smoke evacuators is not a cure-all, as they cannot purify the toxic smoke, he added.
“Medical waste is another problem that authorities have to face,” he said, adding that the Environmental Protection Administration should set specific regulations about air pollution at hospitals.
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