COMMENTARY

Asthma

How "clean" is the cleaning profession?

P K Henneberger

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr P Henneberger
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, M/S H2800 1095 Willowdale Road, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA; pkh0@cdc.gov

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Commentary on the paper by Medina-Ramón et al (see page 598)

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Keywords: ammonia; asthma; bleach; cleaning profession; irritant gases

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Based on the assumption that cleanliness equates with healthiness, many people are likely to consider the cleaning profession to be relatively free of health risks. In fact, some cleaning compounds, either alone or mixed, pose a risk for inhalation injuries, and this risk is heightened when cleaners work in a confined space, such as a small lavatory. The harmful agents are usually irritant aerosols or gases, which means that cleaners are at risk for irritant induced asthma, including reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS), and other respiratory diseases. Over the past 15 years, professional cleaners have emerged as one of the high risk groups for work related asthma in industrialised nations. For example, in the multinational European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) that was initiated in 1992, the reference occupational group comprised professional, clerical, and administrative workers. The cleaning occupation had the fourth highest odds ratio (OR = 1.97, 95% . . . [Full text of this article]

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Relevant Article

Asthma, chronic bronchitis, and exposure to irritant agents in occupational domestic cleaning: a nested case-control study

M Medina-Ramón, J P Zock, M Kogevinas, J Sunyer, Y Torralba, A Borrell, F Burgos, J M Antó
Occup. Environ. Med. 2005 62: 598-606. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Shakeri, M. S., Dick, F. D., Ayres, J. G. (2008). Which agents cause reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS)? A systematic review. Occup Med (Lond) 58: 205-211 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• de Fatima Macaira, E., Algranti, E., Medina Coeli Mendonca, E., Antonio Bussacos, M. (2007). Rhinitis and asthma symptoms in non-domestic cleaners from the Sao Paulo metropolitan area, Brazil. Occup. Environ. Med. 64: 446-453 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Medina-Ramon, M., Zock, J. P., Kogevinas, M., Sunyer, J., Basagana, X., Schwartz, J., Burge, P. S., Moore, V., Anto, J. M. (2006). Short-term respiratory effects of cleaning exposures in female domestic cleaners. Eur Respir J 27: 1196-1203 [Abstract] [Full Text]