Field-ready detection of antineoplastic drugs in workplaces using a wearable flexible surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy platform

Occupational exposure to icotinib and gefitinib poses a significant health risk, underscoring the necessity for effective monitoring to safeguard environmental and occupational health. The present study introduces a wearable SERS platform designed for field-ready detection of antineoplastic drugs’ contamination. The SERS substrate can be assembled on gloves within medical settings exposed to antineoplastic drugs. HOF-101 nanorods coated with gold nanoflowers were loaded on a piece of cellulose fiber membrane (HOF-101@AuNFs/CF). Benefitting from the triple synergistic effects of efficient enrichment of porous HOF-101, abundant SERS hotspots of AuNFs, and adsorption of CF, a simple, field-ready sample-processing workflow and SERS detection of drug residues on workbench’s surface and pharmaceutical packaging was realized. This platform demonstrates a clear logarithmic correlation between SERS intensity and the concentration of icotinib and gefitinib within 10 ppb to 2 ppm, achieving satisfactory recovery and reproducibility. Rapid fingerprint identification and quantitative analysis of icotinib and gefitinib in different samples (workbench’s surface and pharmaceutical packaging) were achieved within 5   min, with the detection limits as low as 2.26 to 3.00 ppb. This in-field sampling and detecting method shows promise for mitigating risks from exposure to antineoplastic agents in the medical workplace.