The use and handling of acrylic bone cement in Danish orthopaedic departments

In order to evaluate the use and handling of acrylic bone cement, questionnaire were presented to all Danish orthopaedic departments in 1987 and again in 1992. Marked improvements in the environmental safety precautions for handling of bone cement had taken place during the 5-year period. In 1992, the intraoperative handling and use of bone cement is thus generally considered safe. Further improvements are still to be advocated in some departments. The exposure to methylmethacrylate monomer (MMA) vapour during the cementation procedures should be eliminated by local punctual field suction or change to a bone cement with a lower content of monomer (MMA/n-decylmethacrylate/isobornylmethylacrylate bone cement). Unnecessary manual contact with the cement should be avoided, and if contact is necessary, special protective gloves (butyl rubber gloves or 4H-gloves) should be used in addition to ordinary surgical gloves.