Occupational exposure to inhalational anesthetic agents

Occupational exposure to inhalation agents has been associated with adverse health effects. Nowadays this relationship has not been established although some researchers believe that there is a correlation between exposure to inhalation agents and adverse health effects and some others do not. The purpose of this article was to review the literature and the extraction of results corresponding to the occupational exposure to these agents. There are reports of the potential risks from the use of modern volatile anesthetics especially when used sevoflurane. Sixty five studies have been reviewed and 12 of them have been excluded because of the size of the sample, the research conditions and because of systematic errors. Chronic occupational exposure to inhalation agents may increase the possibility of adverse health effects and this becomes more intense in the absence of scavenging system or the trace amounts of these agents are high. N2O is one of the agents that has blamed a lot. The use of modern more stable and safe anesthetics is necessary while the use of security systems and training of the staff is an obligation in order to minimize the exposure and ensure the safety.