Increased asthma risk for nurses

Nurses are at an increased risk of developing asthma if they are regularly exposed to hospital cleaning products and disinfectants, the results of a new study indicate.

A team of US researchers looked at 3,650 healthcare professionals, including almost 1,000 nurses.

Nurses whose job entailed the regular use of cleaning products, powdered latex gloves, which are a known allergen, the administration of aerosol treatments and use of solvents or glues were included in the analysis.

The study found that nurses who had used powdered latex were 6% more likely to have been newly diagnosed with asthma since starting their job compared to their other healthcare colleagues.

Furthermore, nurses who were regularly exposed to general cleaning products and disinfectants were 72% more likely to say they had been newly diagnosed with asthma. They were also 57% more likely to report symptoms similar to asthma.

Meanwhile nurses working with solvents and glues used in patient care were 51% more likely to say they had symptoms similar to asthma.

The results stood even after other factors that could have influenced the results were taken into account.

Products being used by the hospitals that took part in the study included topical cleansers and antiseptics used for cleaning patients’ skin, glutaraldehyde for cold sterilisation of medical instruments and all-purpose general cleaning products, including bleach.

“Substituting cleaning agents with environmentally friendly ‘green chemicals’ and using appropriate personal care protection could help minimise occupational exposures in this professional group,” the researchers said.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

For more information on asthma, see...http://www.irishhealth.com/clin/asthma/index.html

[Posted: Tue 20/01/2009]