What is the purpose of an environmental wipe or surface sampling in hazardous drug programs?

• A. To measure staff productivity.
• B. To verify decontamination effectiveness and identify contamination hotspots during audits or after changes.
• C. To estimate drug potency.
• D. To check PPE fashion.

Answer: (B)

Environmental wipe sampling focuses on surfaces to confirm that cleaning and decontamination have been effective and to reveal areas where residues linger. By swabbing work surfaces, high-touch areas, and zones near the compounding and storage spaces, you create a contamination map that shows where contamination is most likely to persist. This is especially useful during internal audits or after changes to processes, layouts, or cleaning procedures, because it helps target improvements, validate controls, and ensure that the environment meets safety and regulatory standards. The aim is to protect staff by keeping surfaces free of hazardous-drug residues or within acceptable limits, and the results guide remediation actions and adjustments to cleaning protocols or engineering controls. It’s not about measuring staff productivity, drug potency, or PPE fashion, which are unrelated to environmental contamination monitoring.