Cleaning products and risk of asthma

Details

• Personal Author:
  Tumpowsky CM
• Description:
  Surveillance findings from several states identify cleaning agents as a potential cause of work-related asthma. Here in Massachusetts, more than 10% of the work-related asthma cases reported to SENSOR, list cleaning products as the suspected agent. The Michigan SENSOR program recently summarized data on over 50 cases of work-related asthma involving cleaning compounds. In this issue we present several case reports and highlight some of the frequently reporting cleaning products associated with breathing problems. The term "cleaning agents" encompasses a very broad category of products. During the next year, SENSOR staff plan to conduct more intensive follow-up of cases associated with cleaning products to see if we can identify specific product components which may cause asthma. We will be making efforts to obtain Material Safety Data Sheets on specific products identified by cases. We encourage you to consider exposures to cleaning agents when talking to patients about potential workplace exposures that cause breathing problems and to urge patients to obtain specific product information. Case One: A 38 year old woman who worked as a lab technician in a hospital developed wheezing, cough, chest tightness and shortness of breath within 10 minutes of exposure to a floor cleaner which was applied to an adjacent work area. Case Two: A woman in her late 20's who worked as a laboratory technician performing surgical procedures on research animals, developed wheezing, cough, chest tightness and shortness of breath one year after she began working for her employer. Her symptoms began after she started using a disinfectant which contained hydroxyacetic acid to clean her work area after surgical procedures. Case Three: A 46 year old woman who worked as a hotel housekeeper developed breathing problems within 3 hours of being exposed to muriatic acid. The muriatic acid was being used to clean the pool area and the housekeeper was cleaning the adjacent hallway. Because of the widespread use of cleaning agents in the workplace, workers, regardless of their occupation, may be exposed frequently. Several cleaning agents have been described as causes of occupational asthma, while others have been reported in the literature as causing chemical pneumonitis, pulmonary edema, or contact dermatitis. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Acetamides Acids Asthma Asthma, Occupational Case Reports Disinfectants Hazardous Substances Laboratories Occupational Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Acetic-acids Breathing Bronchial-asthma Case-studies Chemical-cleaning Cleaning-compounds Health-care Health-hazards Housekeeping-personnel Housekeeping-products Laboratory-work Laboratory-workers Occupational-diseases Occupational-exposure Occupational-health Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiratory-system-disorders Surveillance-programs Work-environment Worker-health Workers

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• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20042754
• Citation:
  SENSOR Occup Lung Dis Bull 1998 Apr; :1-3
• Contact Point Address:
  Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Occupational Health Surveillance Program, 250 Washington Street, 6th Floor, Boston, MA 02108
• CAS Registry Number:
  Glycolic acid (CAS RN 79-14-1) ; Hydrochloric acid (CAS RN 7647-01-0)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1998
• Performing Organization:
  Massachusetts State Department of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  19880415
• Source Full Name:
  SENSOR Occupational Lung Disease Bulletin
• End Date:
  20050929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1d9c71b5832b47056fb3d07fa17f88b7b7d5b166f5abca930c19c33afecc9c57eda0ad2fc7ade2a0c88ce99d179b44de47d92811a2678bf0469c194d2f32b4b3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/194883/cdc_194883_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 20.91 KB ]