Insufficient respiratory hazard identification in the safety data sheets for cleaning and disinfection products used in healthcare organisations across England and Wales
| Autor: | Martie van Tongeren, Martin Seed, Sewon Lee, Andrew C. Povey |
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| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Detergents
Hazard analysis Material Safety Data Sheets Hazardous Substances 03 medical and health sciences Structure-Activity Relationship 0302 clinical medicine Hazardous waste Environmental health Occupational Exposure Health care Background exposure Medicine Humans 030212 general & internal medicine Material safety data sheet Wales business.industry Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health medicine.disease 030210 environmental & occupational health Asthma England Irritants Health Facilities business Risk assessment Occupational asthma Disinfectants |
| Zdroj: | Occupational and environmental medicine. 78(4) |
| ISSN: | 1470-7926 |
| Popis: | BackgroundExposure to cleaning and disinfection products has been associated with respiratory disorders such as asthma in cleaning and healthcare workers. Safety data sheets (SDSs) provide information on hazardous chemicals that are present in products to help users with risk assessment and implement appropriate control measures. However, they have potential limitations in identifying respiratory hazards due to a lack of regulatory test methods for respiratory sensitisation and irritation of chemicals.MethodsSDSs were first used to identify chemicals on the database as respiratory sensitisers and irritants. A quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) model and an asthmagen list established by the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics (AOEC) were used to identify potential respiratory sensitisers and irritants (by the AOEC list only) in the cleaning and disinfection products.ResultsFrom a total of 459 cleaning and disinfection products used in healthcare organisations across England and Wales, 35 respiratory sensitisers not labelled as such on the SDS were identified by QSAR or AOEC. Only 2% of cleaning and disinfection products contained at least one respiratory sensitiser as identified by their SDSs; this was increased to 37.7% of products when the QSAR or the AOEC list was used.ConclusionsA significantly higher proportion of cleaning products contain respiratory hazardous chemicals, particularly respiratory sensitisers than would be expected from the information provided by SDSs alone. Cleaners and healthcare workers may, therefore, be insufficiently protected. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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