What type of pressure is required in a hazardous drug compounding room?

In a hazardous drug compounding room, negative pressure is essential to ensure safety and containment of potentially harmful substances. The purpose of maintaining negative pressure is to prevent harmful airborne particles from escaping the compounding area into the general environment, thereby protecting both the compounding personnel and other individuals in the facility.

By keeping the air pressure lower inside the compounding room in comparison to surrounding areas, any leak or breach in containment will draw air inward rather than allowing it to flow out. This is particularly critical when working with hazardous drugs, which can pose significant health risks.

Maintaining controlled negative pressure is part of standard safety protocols in sterile compounding areas handling these substances, ensuring that they are managed in a manner that minimizes exposure and risk. The other options, while relevant in different contexts, do not provide the necessary environmental control needed for hazardous drug handling. Positive pressure, for example, is used in situations where contamination from the surroundings must be kept out, such as in cleanrooms for sterile compounding of non-hazardous drugs, but is not appropriate for hazardous drug preparation.