An Index to Identify Differences in Custodians’ Exposures to Cleaning Chemicals

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cavallari J ; Cherniack, Martin G. ; Garza J ; Meyer, J. D. ; Morse T ; Schenck P ; Simcox NJ ; Wakai S ; Welsh L
• Description:
  Background and Objectives: Cleaning chemicals used by custodians are associated with adverse health outcomes. Exposure to cleaning chemicals may vary across groups of custodians. The goal of this study was to develop an exposure index that could be used to evaluate differences in custodians' exposures to cleaning chemicals based on individual or work environmental factors. Methods: 318 custodians, lead custodians, and supervising custodians at four Connecticut institutions completed a survey including information about individual and work environmental factors and frequency and type of cleaning chemical use. Exposure indices were developed for each participant by summing the number of chemicals that each participant reported using, weighted by frequency of use. Univariate linear regression analyses were performed to evaluate whether there were significant (two-tailed p<0.05) differences in exposure indices by demographic and occupational characteristics. Results: There were significant (p<0.01) differences in exposure indices by gender, shift, years worked, and primary language spoken. Greater exposure was associated with working the first shift, speaking English as primary language, greater number of years worked in the cleaning industry, and male sex. Similar trends were noted when exposure indices were calculated for "green" and "traditional" cleaning chemicals separately. Discussion: Differences among custodians in exposure indices by individual and work environmental factors were observed. The relationship between exposure indices and health outcomes, as well as the contribution of cleaning tasks to exposure indices, will be explored in future analyses. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Hazardous Substances Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Sex Characteristics Workplace
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Occupational Health And Safety Chemical Exposures & Prevention Clean-up Hazards Cleaning Compounds Custodians Gender Factors Health Effects Occupational Exposure Workplace Studies
• Publisher:
  American Public Health Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Connecticut ; New York ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 2 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20055037
• Citation:
  APHA 142nd Annual Meeting and Exposition, November 15-19, 2014, New Orleans, Louisiana. Washington, DC: American Public Health Association, 2014 Nov; :304701
• Email:
  garza@uchc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Performing Organization:
  University of Connecticut Schools of Medicine, Farmington
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20090901
• Source Full Name:
  APHA 142nd Annual Meeting and Exposition, November 15-19, 2014, New Orleans, Louisiana
• End Date:
  20140831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:37a318231273ed1b854fc68ec1e0fee8588c97e411e2e63135d99665c2369f42cb56b2055664d1860647c7717bb2a230492d1cacf6dccf01d231003f79b4618e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/217431/cdc_217431_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 145.11 KB ]