At a glance
| Chemical family | An antineoplastic (chemotherapy) drug — a platinum-based DNA-crosslinking agent (Platinol, CDDP) |
| CAS number | 15663-27-1 |
| Classification | IARC Group 2A — probably carcinogenic to humans (sufficient animal evidence; genotoxic, DNA-crosslinking). A NIOSH hazardous drug |
| Where you encounter it | Only in a home where someone is being treated: excreted largely in urine, depositing on toilet/bathroom surfaces, bedding and laundry |
| Sleep micro-environment relevance | A household caregiver- and laundry-hygiene concern — contaminated bedding and surfaces, not the mattress — for a limited period after each dose |
| Activated carbon capture | Not relevant — a surface/laundry-residue issue managed by gloves, separate laundering and cleaning, not air filtration |
Regulatory & certification status
Where Cisplatin stands across the major regulatory systems and the certifications a bedroom product might carry. Each row links to the governing instrument; where a jurisdiction has no specific measure, that is stated plainly rather than left blank.
| European Union | Cisplatin has no harmonised CLP classification in Annex VI; classifications in the ECHA C&L inventory are company self-classifications only, and these are inconsistent across notifiers (reported values range from Carc./Muta. 1B + Repr. 1A down to Carc./Muta. Cat. 2). It is NOT on the REACH SVHC Candidate List or the Authorisation List (Annex XIV). In February 2025 the European Commission published a Communication (OJ C/2025/1150, 20 Feb 2025) establishing an indicative list of hazardous medicinal products under Article 18a of the Carcinogens, Mutagens and Reprotoxic substances Directive 2004/37/EC; that list captures medicinal products meeting the Carc./Muta./Repr. category 1A or 1B criteria and, per secondary reporting, includes platinum-based antineoplastics such as cisplatin. This is an occupational worker-protection measure, not a REACH/CLP market restriction. (The primary EUR-Lex text of the list could not be machine-retrieved at verification time — ECHA and EUR-Lex were bot-blocked — so cisplatin's specific line entry and self-classified category in the Annex are reported on secondary authority, not independently confirmed.) Regulatory — EUR-Lex · European Commission, DG Em |
| United States | Listed under California Proposition 65 as a chemical known to the State to cause cancer; the OEHHA chemical record gives a listing date of 1 October 1988 via the 'State's Qualified Experts' mechanism, for the cancer endpoint only. It is not listed by OEHHA for developmental or reproductive toxicity. As a pharmaceutical regulated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, cisplatin falls outside TSCA, and no TSCA risk evaluation or action for cisplatin was identified. Regulatory — OEHHA |
| Canada | No evidence was found that cisplatin (CAS 15663-27-1) is on CEPA Schedule 1 (List of Toxic Substances); it does not appear among the substances commonly cited as scheduled or assessed under the Chemicals Management Plan. As a prescription chemotherapy drug it is regulated under the Food and Drugs Act / Health Canada rather than the industrial-chemical CMP stream. (The primary Schedule 1 list could not be retrieved at verification time — the ECCC page returned HTTP 403 — so this is a best-available-evidence negative rather than an exhaustively confirmed absence.) Regulatory — Government of Canada |
| Australia | Cisplatin is a therapeutic good regulated by the TGA and, as a substance used solely for therapeutic purposes, is excluded from the industrial-chemicals scheme (AICIS) under the Industrial Chemicals Act 2019 / Therapeutic Goods Act 1989. No specific scheduling decision for cisplatin under the Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management Standard (IChEMS) Register was identified. Regulatory — DCCEEW · AICIS |
| United Kingdom | Great Britain broadly inherits the retained EU baseline: cisplatin has no GB mandatory (harmonised) CLP classification beyond company self-classification, and it is not on a published GB/UK REACH authorisation or restriction list. As a medicinal active substance it is treated outside the industrial-chemical registration stream, mirroring the EU position. (Specific GB-list entries were not independently retrieved; stated as consistent with the absence of any harmonised classification.) Regulatory — HSE |
| International | The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies cisplatin in Group 2A, 'probably carcinogenic to humans' (Supplement 7 / overall evaluation). No global chemicals treaty applies: cisplatin is not a Stockholm Convention persistent organic pollutant and is not a Minamata Convention (mercury) substance. Regulatory — IARC Monographs · IARC |
| Certifications | None of these consumer-product certifications cover cisplatin, and none name it in their published criteria: it is an injectable platinum chemotherapy drug with no role in mattress foam, textiles, or indoor air. CertiPUR-US screens flexible polyurethane foam for heavy metals (lead, mercury and others), specified flame retardants, formaldehyde, phthalates and low-VOC emissions; OEKO-TEX Standard 100 sets harmful-substance limits for textiles; GREENGUARD / GREENGUARD Gold certify low chemical emissions. None of these schemes screen finished consumer goods for a non-volatile cytotoxic pharmaceutical such as cisplatin. Industry — CertiPUR-US · OEKO-TEX |
| The 72-hour test window | Not detected. Cisplatin is a non-volatile inorganic platinum(II) coordination complex with negligible vapour pressure and no relevance to the sleep environment, so a short ~72-hour VOC emissions chamber test would not capture it; it is neither a VOC nor an off-gassing SVOC. Inferred — from the compound's volatility/emission profile versus the VOC focus of short chamber tests |
What it is
Cisplatin — cis-diamminedichloroplatinum, Platinol, CDDP — is the original platinum chemotherapy drug, in use since the 1970s and a cornerstone treatment for testicular, ovarian, bladder, lung and head-and-neck cancers. It kills dividing cells by binding their DNA and forming cross-links that stall replication. Regulatory — IARC Monograph Suppl. 7 That same DNA-crosslinking action is the basis of its own carcinogenic classification.
IARC places cisplatin in Group 2A, probably carcinogenic to humans. The human evidence is limited — it is rarely given as a single agent — but the animal evidence is sufficient: repeated dosing produced lung tumors in mice and leukemia in rats, and cisplatin is plainly genotoxic, inducing chromosomal damage and DNA cross-links. Regulatory — IARC Monograph Suppl. 7
How it relates to the bedroom
The household route: excretion onto bedding and surfaces
Cisplatin reaches the sleep environment by the route shared across the chemotherapy family. It is cleared substantially through the kidneys, so for several days after each infusion the patient's urine and other fluids carry the drug, depositing onto the surfaces and fabrics they contact. Inferred — cisplatin is largely renally excreted, so excreta carry residual drug, as documented for the antineoplastic class Hospital surveys make the pattern concrete for the antineoplastic-drug class generally: surface contamination is found across patient areas, with the highest levels on the floors of patient lavatories, explicitly tied to the handling of patients' urine. That study measured cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide specifically, not cisplatin, so this is class-level supporting evidence rather than cisplatin-specific data. Inferred — extrapolated from antineoplastic-class surface monitoring; Hedmer et al. 2008 did not assay cisplatin/platinum
The bedding link is specific to the drug class rather than to cisplatin itself. In a study of which tasks led to measurable drug in nurses' bodies, changing the sheets or making the bed of a treated patient was one of the strongest contributors — but the drugs biomonitored were methotrexate, cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, a 5-fluorouracil metabolite, and doxorubicin, not cisplatin. Inferred — extrapolated from antineoplastic-class biomonitoring; Villa et al. 2023 did not assay cisplatin/platinum In a home, the person doing that is usually a family caregiver — which is why this belongs in a bedroom atlas.
Keeping it in proportion
The calibration matters as much as the facts. The serious carcinogenic risk attaches to receiving cisplatin as treatment — second cancers are an established long-term concern of chemotherapy — not to a caregiver's incidental contact with traces on laundry, which is low-level. Inferred — household third-party exposure is low relative to therapeutic dosing; the precaution follows the ALARA principle The drug itself has saved an enormous number of lives. The caregiver's task is simply to keep their own exposure as low as reasonably achievable during the short window when the drug is being cleared.
What the research says
- IARC Group 2A. Sufficient animal evidence (lung tumors, leukemia); genotoxic DNA-crosslinker. Regulatory — IARC Suppl. 7
- Excreted and surface-deposited. Largely renal clearance; antineoplastic drugs (class-level, not cisplatin-specific) found on patient-lavatory floors. Inferred — Hedmer et al. 2008 assayed cyclophosphamide/ifosfamide, not cisplatin
- Bedding is a real route. Sheet-changing/bed-making strongly associated with internal contamination in nurses biomonitored for other antineoplastic drugs. Inferred — Villa et al. 2023 assayed methotrexate/cyclophosphamide/ifosfamide/5-FU/doxorubicin, not cisplatin
- The risk is a treatment risk, not a bedroom one. Second cancers follow therapy; household contact is low-level. Inferred
What helps reduce it
Follow your care team's home-chemo precautions. Generally for about a week after each dose, designed for this situation. Inferred — standard home-chemotherapy caregiver guidance
Glove up and launder separately. Disposable gloves for soiled linens and fluids; wash contaminated bedding apart from other laundry with an extra rinse. Inferred — extrapolated from antineoplastic-class handling guidance; Villa et al. 2023 studied other antineoplastic drugs, not cisplatin specifically
Manage the bathroom. Close the lid before flushing and clean surfaces — the documented hot spots for the antineoplastic-drug class. Inferred — extrapolated from antineoplastic-class surface monitoring; Hedmer et al. 2008 studied other antineoplastic drugs, not cisplatin specifically
What does NOT help
- Replacing the mattress. The drug is a transient excreted residue, not a bedding ingredient; hygiene and laundering address it. Inferred
- Fearing the medicine. Cisplatin is a curative cancer treatment; the household task is sensible precaution, not avoidance of therapy. Regulatory — IARC Suppl. 7
Open research questions
- The real magnitude of any health risk to home caregivers from low-level contact with excreted platinum drugs. Speculation
- How long after a dose bedding and bathroom surfaces remain meaningfully contaminated in a home setting. Speculation
The Embr Exposure Ledger: Cisplatin
One chemical, several public questions, answered from independent datasets and joined here — the environment it shows up in, the body burden it carries, how it is regulated, and what actually reduces it.
Detection and body-burden figures are occurrence data, not a personal measurement or a health diagnosis. Part of the Embr Exposure Ledger — an open, cross-dataset chemical join (download the data), reusable with attribution.
Citations
- IARC Monographs Vol. 26 / Supplement 7 (1981/1987): Cisplatin. Group 2A; inadequate human but sufficient animal evidence (lung tumors, leukemia); genotoxic DNA-crosslinker. IARC / IPCS INCHEM Regulatory
- Hedmer M, et al. (2008). Environmental and biological monitoring of antineoplastic drugs in four workplaces in a Swedish hospital. Int. Arch. Occup. Environ. Health. Assayed cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide (not cisplatin); drugs found on most surfaces, highest on patient-lavatory floors, tied to handling patients' urine — cited here as class-level route evidence, not cisplatin-specific data. Via Consensus. DOI 10.1007/s00420-007-0284-y Peer-reviewed
- Villa A, et al. (2023). Factors associated with internal contamination of nurses by antineoplastic drugs. Int. J. Hyg. Environ. Health. Biomonitored methotrexate, cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, a 5-fluorouracil metabolite, and doxorubicin (not cisplatin); changing sheets / making the bed of a treated patient strongly associated with internal contamination — cited here as class-level route evidence, not cisplatin-specific data. Via Consensus. DOI 10.1016/j.ijheh.2023.114264 Peer-reviewed
Frequently asked questions
What is cisplatin?
Cisplatin is a platinum-based chemotherapy drug — one of the most important cancer treatments ever developed, used for testicular, ovarian, bladder, lung, and head-and-neck cancers among others. It works by binding and cross-linking the DNA of dividing cells. It is in this Atlas not as an ingredient in anything you own, but because of what happens after treatment: it is excreted, largely in urine, and traces reach surfaces and bedding.
How is it classified for cancer risk?
IARC classifies cisplatin as probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A). The human evidence is limited because it is rarely given alone, but the animal evidence is sufficient — it caused lung tumors and leukemia in rodents — and it is clearly genotoxic, cross-linking DNA. This is a recognized risk of the treatment itself; second cancers are an established, if uncommon, long-term concern of cytotoxic chemotherapy. It is separate from the much lower-level question of a caregiver's incidental household exposure.
Why does it matter in the bedroom?
When someone at home is being treated with cisplatin, the drug leaves their body in urine and other fluids for days after each dose. Hospital studies find antineoplastic drugs on patient-area surfaces — especially bathroom floors, tied to handling urine — and show that changing the sheets or making the bed of a treated patient is a measurable way others pick the drugs up. In a home, that task falls to a family caregiver, so contaminated bedding and bathroom surfaces are the exposure to manage.
What should a caregiver do?
Follow your care team's home-chemotherapy precautions, generally for about a week after each dose. Wear disposable gloves when handling soiled linens or bodily fluids, launder contaminated bedding and clothing separately with an extra rinse, close the toilet lid before flushing and clean bathroom surfaces, and wash hands afterward. The goal is to keep a caregiver's incidental exposure as low as reasonably achievable while the patient receives a vital, often curative, treatment.
Related compounds
Embr is a sleep environment company researching and addressing the chemistry of the bedroom. Research and product development in progress. This page is informational and is not medical advice; follow your care team's guidance.
Last reviewed 2026-06-27. If you find a factual error, contact us.