本研究探討醫療院所手術室內使用電刀產生之燒灼煙霧微粒對於手術室內空氣品質污染情形，藉由調查手術室內、外使用電刀後產生不同粒徑之煙霧微粒數目濃度，評估電刀煙霧污染區域；進而分析醫護人員醫療口罩上之多環芳香族碳氫化合物(PolycyclicAromaticHydrocarbons, PAH) 物種與濃度，評估電刀產生煙霧對醫護人員呼吸之暴露影響。由於單極與雙極電刀廣泛使用於醫療手術中，電刀切除組織或凝血過程中，因為電流高熱產生不完全燃燒現象，造成氣態污染與微粒煙霧。雖在手術室通風狀況下，仍可時常嗅聞到燒灼異味，也是醫護人員在長期醫療手術過程中之可能職業危害。本研究調查結果顯示，手術室內因為電刀使用產生大量吸入性微粒，總微粒數目濃度每立方英尺高達30 萬顆，粒徑為0.3 μm 之微粒占所有微粒數目70 ％以上。醫療人員手術過程使用醫療口罩上之PAH 濃度顯示，粒狀物上PAH 濃度為台北市一般外界環境濃度之50 倍，亦發現多種致癌性PAH。綜合微粒數目濃度與PAH 濃度分佈，應該重視因電刀煙霧對於醫療人員之健康危害性。

This study investigated the exposure level of electrocautery (EC) smoke in the surgicaloperation room. EC smoke exposure levels to the surgical staffs were evaluated by measuring theconcentration of size-segregated particle number under various EC application scenarios and theconcentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) on the surgical staffs' masks. Whilemonopolar and bipolar ECs are widely applied in recent medical surgeries, the incompletecombustion on the tissues and organs from using EC produced significant smoke which includesgaseous and particulate pollutants. The unpleasant odor and smoke pose as a potential healthhazard to the surgical team. This study revealed that frequent EC usage produced abundantinhalable particles (particle size smaller than 10 (m) and its number concentration reached a levelof 300,000 #/ft3. Submicron particles (0.3 m) dominated the total particles, which impliespossible particle penetration into the lung during inhalation. PAH concentrations on surgicalmasks were 50 times higher than that in the regular environment of Taipei, which further poses asa potential health threat to surgical staff. Based on the concentrations found, it is crucial to reducelevels of EC smoke exposures on surgical staffs in operating rooms.