Determination of Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylene Compounds in Surgical Smoke and Its Relationship with Body Mass Index and Duration of Surgery

 Electrosurgical units produce the highest level of surgical smoke. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine concentration of surgical smoke compounds produced in orthopedic surgeries.

 The present study was performed on 20 patients in the operating room units of 5 Azar Hospital in Gorgan, Iran. Twenty smoke specimens were collected from electrosurgical units during orthopedic surgeries. The concentration of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) was determined using an air-sampling pump and SKC charcoal sorbent tubes. The collected data were analyzed using frequency distribution as well as generalized linear and ranked logistic regression tests in SPSS software (version 17).

 Most patients had a body mass index (BMI) level of >24 kg/m2. The mean age of patients was 25.28 years. The average concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene were 540 µg/m3, 430 µg/m3, and 340µg/m3, and 390µg/m3, respectively. The concentration of particles with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5) was 22.75 µg/m3. Benzene values were higher than the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health limit. The PM2.5 values were unhealthy for sensitive groups according to the Air Quality Index. Moreover, BMI had a significant association with the amount of benzene produced intraoperatively (p=0.016). The findings also showed that the surgery duration had a significant association with toluene production (p=0.049).

 The concentration of BTEX compounds was low, but the PM2.5 values are high in the studied operating rooms. Long-term exposure to BTEX compounds can be considered as a health risk for operating room personnel.