Cleaning Products-Related Asthma

Details

• Personal Author:
  Rosenman, Kenneth D.
• Description:
  Epidemiologic studies have identified cleaners as an occupational group at increased risk of asthma and asthma-type respiratory symptoms. The level of increased risk in cleaners for these respiratory problems has ranged from around 1.5 to 2.5 times the background risk. Specific chemicals in cleaning products identified to cause sensitization include disinfectants (chloramine, chlorhexidine, formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, and hexachlorophene); amine compounds (amino alcohols, aliphatic polyamines, and the quaternary amine, benzalkonium chloride); tall oil; the fungicide tributyltin oxide; and enzymes produced by Bacillus subtilis and other additives used in detergents. The mixing of cleaning products containing bleach and acid or bleach and ammonia, which causes the production of chlorine or chloramines, as well as the use of strong irritants to clean such as hydrofluoric acid have caused reactive airways dysfunction syndrome. Further research is needed to better elucidate the respiratory disease among cleaners. Questions that need to be resolved include: How much of the respiratory symptoms in cleaners are secondary to sensitization to ingredients of certain cleaning products, how much to their irritative properties, and how much to exposure to environmental allergens such as dust mites whose immunologic effect may be heightened by certain cleaning products? In the meantime, clinicians need to be aware when evaluating patients with asthma or asthma-like symptoms that cleaning agents at work or at home may be important triggers that are either initiating or aggravating the patient's disease. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Detergents Irritants Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Airway-obstruction Cleaning-compounds Exposure-levels Occupational-exposure Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiratory-irritants Respiratory-system-disorders Work-environment Workers Workplace-monitoring
• ISSN:
  1068-0640
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  221-228
• Volume:
  13
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20031767
• Citation:
  Clin Pulm Med 2006 Jul; 13(4):221-228
• Contact Point Address:
  Kenneth D. Rosenman, MD, Michigan State University, 117 West Fee Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824
• Email:
  Rosenman@msu.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  Ammonia (CAS RN 7664-41-7) ; Chloramine-T (CAS RN 127-65-1) ; Chlorine (CAS RN 7782-50-5) ; Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0) ; Glutaraldehyde (CAS RN 111-30-8) ; Hexachlorophene (CAS RN 70-30-4) ; Hydrofluoric acid (CAS RN 7664-39-3) ; Tributyltin oxide (CAS RN 56-35-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2006
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20020930
• Source Full Name:
  Clinical Pulmonary Medicine
• End Date:
  20070929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a7701f5ae72905b4b8c910c69c341359df467d6fe83ebb6e68283a2bdd7007f80d61a56e3b24aa38ec96179dafad39439d289d8b671cceb86c82e022e2fd6b04
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/185937/cdc_185937_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.12 MB ]