URINARY BIOLOGICAL MONITORING MARKERS OF ANTICANCER DRUG EXPOSURE IN ONCOLOGY NURSES

People handling anticancer drugs or their wastes may absorb these pote nt genotoxic agents. The aim of this study was to determine the utilit y of some general urinary markers among 24 female oncology nurses hand ling these drugs in comparison with 25 ''unexposed'' nurses. The marke rs were the Salmonella typhimurium reverse and forward mutation assays , total thioethers, and D-glucaric acid. The reverse mutation assay wa s the most specific and sensitive marker for anti-cancer drug exposure . Use of the marker battery was no great advantage as a screening tool relative to use of the reverse mutation assay alone. Better recording of work practices in nurse work logs would have improved interpretati on of results.