{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"KZYX News","title":"Incidental fentanyl exposure a myth, say researchers","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":389,"description":"December 24, 2020 — The synthetic opioid fentanyl is a huge problem in the US right now, according to Sheriff Matt Kendall, who sees some of the social effects first-hand. “It is the biggest problem,” he says, because fentanyl is so much cheaper than methamphetamine or heroin to make. “I believe there’s more fentanyl on the streets right now than heroin,” he added. “This is going to be the new epidemic.”\r\nIt’s a scary substance. In 2018, the CDC, in partnership with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, put out a video from police body cams that purported to show police officers in Virginia being accidentally exposed to fentanyl.\r\nCloser to home, the sheriff reported earlier this month that a deputy at the jail had accidentally been exposed to the drug while cleaning a cell where an inmate had suffered a severe overdose from fentanyl that had somehow been smuggled in. The deputy started feeling woozy, received a dose of Narcan, and was taken to the hospital for observation. He was wearing PPE, including a mask, gloves, and long sleeves. He was also wearing eyeglasses, but not protective goggles. Kendall says it’s impossible to be exposed to fentanyl through the skin, but he thinks the deputy may have been affected by powder that got into a cut on his skin, into his eyes, or by inhaling it.\r\nBut Dr. Rachel Winograd, a clinical psychologist who works as an associate research professor at the University of Missouri St. Louis, the Missouri Institute of Mental Health, says that sounds impossible. Her work revolves around the role of opioids in what she and others in the field call “the worsening poisoning crisis.” She’s especially concerned with effective, equitable treatments for addiction. In August of this year, she led a team that researched and published an article on misinformation about the risks of accidental fentanyl contact. ”I suppose if you walked into a cloud of fentanyl dust in the air, then technically when you breathe it in, it...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/xZpAumwbhFUpJUYcwaQ1-q6snzOyqAm13l7cW6AWPCM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mMzkz/NjAwNjc2OWMyZmFk/YWY2YTdmYjI5M2Mz/YWMxNy5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}