The potential for passive cocaine exposure was evaluated in crime laboratory employees preparing training aids for a military working dog program (MWD). The primary goal of the study was to elucidate the routes of exposure and implement procedural changes that would minimize this risk. Several work environments and laboratory procedures were examined by monitoring personal breathing zones (PBZ), ambient airborne cocaine levels in the laboratory spaces, and urinary levels of the primary cocaine metabolite, benzoylecgonine. The study was performed initially using current laboratory procedures to establish a baseline and to identify potential sources of exposure. A subsequent study was performed to determine the effectiveness of the follow-up procedure in reducing exposure. As a result of the changes, the 8-h time weighted averages (TWAs) were 40 to 80% lower in the follow-up study as compared to the baseline assessment. Dermal absorption and PBZ inhalation of cocaine during manufacture were likely the most significant source of cocaine exposure. Ambient airborne cocaine may have also contributed to the total exposure, but for most observations, the concentrations were significantly less than those determined from PBZ monitoring. The maximum ambient cocaine concentration was 0.0144 mg/m(3) compared to a maximum of 0.4004 mg/m(3) observed during PBZ monitoring. Occupational exposure decreased in the follow-up study because of the proper use of personal protective equipment and improvements in engineering controls.
As a part of ongoing testing of personnel preparing training aids for drug detection dogs at the Naval Criminal Investigative Service Regional Forensic Laboratory, personnel handling methamphetamine (MTH) were subject to voluntary urine drug testing. This provided a model of potential unwitting or environmental exposure contribution to MTH concentrations in urine. Urine samples were collected from multiple individuals on the day before, the day of, and the day after the individuals had handled up to 500-g quantities of MTH during the assembly of training aids. Personnel wore gloves, dust masks, and lab coats during the preparation of training aids. A total of 101 urine samples were analyzed for the presence of MTH and amphetamine (AMP) by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry after solid-phase extraction and derivatization. Urine samples collected during and after personnel handled drug yielded a mean MTH concentration of 48 ng/mL with a maximum concentration of 262 ng/mL and a minimum detected concentration of approximately 1.6 ng/mL. Thirty-five of the 52 post drug-handling samples had detectable MTH. Ten of the samples had MTH concentrations above the method limit of quantitation of 15 ng/mL. Only one sample had a concentration greater than 50 ng/mL. None of the samples had detectable AMP. From this limited study, it was evident that handling of MTH under these conditions resulted in minimal exposure and small but detectable concentrations of MTH in urine.
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