Air monitoring and assessment of occupational exposure to peracetic acid in a hospital environment.

A new automated method based upon solid phase micro-extraction (SPME)/fast gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was developed for the quantitative determination of airborne peracetic acid (PAA). The method is suitable for the quick assessment of brief acute exposure as well as for long-term environmental monitoring of PAA and can assist in improving safety and environmental quality in workplaces where disinfectants are used. During a monitoring campaign in the Regional Hospital of Florence, Italy, the 8-h average air concentration of PAA was 1/10 of the threshold limit value of time weighted average in 87% of the clinical units tested. However, the application of the new SPME method showed that short-term exposure to PAA could be relatively elevated in some hospital units with poor ventilation, allowing prompt intervention in order to reduce worker exposure to this potentially toxic compound.