A concern currently exists regarding the potential for exposure of hea
lth care workers to pentamidine isethionate, a drug used for preventio
n and treatment of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in immunocompromised
patients, including those with human immunodeficiency virus infection
. In order to evaluate worker exposures, a sampling and analytical met
hod for pentamidine isethionate in air has been developed. This method
involves sampling with a 37-mm PVC membrane filter at 1 to 2 L/min, r
ecovery with 3 mL of 50:50 ethanol:water with 0.085% phosphoric acid a
nd 0.04% tetramethylammonium chloride in an ultrasonic bath for 10 min
, and analysis by high performance liquid chromatography with fluoresc
ence detection. The limit of detection is about 18 ng per sample, and
the lower limit of quantitation is 50 ng per sample. Recoveries of pen
tamidine isethionate from PVC filters were 0.76 to 0.91 at 50 to 8820-
ng levels of fortification. Samples were stable on PVC filters during
27 days of storage at room temperature. Because patients who are treat
ed with pentamidine isethionate are at increased risk of contracting t
uberculosis (TB), safety precautions for handling samples contaminated
with TB were included in the sampling and analytical method.