Which category does C-PEC belong to in containment controls?

• A. Primary engineering control
• B. Administrative control
• C. HVAC control
• D. Containment supplemental engineering control

Answer: (D)

The question tests how containment controls are categorized for hazardous drug handling. C-PEC stands for Containment Primary Engineering Control, which means it is a primary engineering control designed to provide containment right at the point of compounding. It directly creates the contained environment used for sterile preparation, so it sits in the engineering controls family as the primary device offering containment.

It isn’t an administrative control (policies, training, procedures) and it isn’t an HVAC control (facility air systems at the room level). It isn’t a containment supplemental engineering control, which would refer to additional measures or devices used to boost containment on top of the primary control (for example, closed-system transfer devices used in conjunction with the PEC).

So, C-PEC is best classified as a primary engineering control with containment.