October 29, 2008
Statement by David Alburty

Communications recently issued by McKesson/Parata regarding potential exposure of pharmacy workers to airborne pill dust from the McKesson/Parata RDS attempt to mask a potentially serious health matter affecting workers.

McKesson/Parata claims that unreleased tests, not conducted by OSHA but “under OSHA standards” are relevant. It is critical to know that OSHA air quality regulations are limited to general guidelines for “nuisance dust” such as emissions from grinding and burning processes. There are no OSHA standards establishing safe quantities of pharmaceutical compounds in the air. Nor are there OSHA standards for PM-2.5 particles and nanoparticles. These very small particles, which are used to transport pharmaceutical agents, were shown to be generated when pills were subjected to air pressure dispensing. PM-2.5 particles are the subject of EPA air quality standards because they penetrate the lungs deeply and rapidly enter the bloodstream. As documented in our study, these particles are believed to cause a number of serious health problems. The fact that OSHA standards do not yet address this issue does not mean that it should be ignored.

Our study unveiled potentially serious exposures for workers, and our strong recommendation is that this needs to be studied by federal regulatory agencies.

Clearly, federal regulatory agencies must assess risk and set guidelines for these types of machines and establish procedures to monitor the health impact on pharmacy workers when they are used.

Our full study is available for review.