Cleaners, Disinfectants and Sterilants

South Carolina Nurse, The, Oct-Dec 2003 by Sattler, Barb, Condon, Marian

The National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) recommends that EtO be considered a mutagenic and a potential human carcinogen and recommends eliminating all unnecessary and improper uses of EtO in medical facilities whenever possible, and safe alternatives should be used to minimize occupational exposure to it. There is currently an Occupational Safety and Health Standard for ethylene oxide because of its health risks.

Glutaradehyde, a disinfectant, is a potent skin irritant and sensitizer known to trigger asthma (Nethercott, 1988; Di Stefano, et al. 1999). Whenever possible, a less hazardous disinfectant should be used. For guidance in selecting an alternative, see "10 Reasons to Eliminate Glutaraldehyde" on the Sustainable Hospitals website: http://www.sustainablehospitals.org/HTMLSrc/IP_ factsheet_contents.html#glut). The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is currently developing an occupational exposure standard for glutaraldehyde because of its health risks.

As nurses and other hospital employees become more educated about health risks from chemicals in their environment, we will see more and more opportunities to decrease the risks by making informed decisions about our everyday practices and purchases. Nurses can play a key role in improving occupational and environmental health threats in our health care facilities. The Nurses' Workgroup of the national Health Care Without Harm Campaign is committed to this effort. We welcome you to join us in this effort. see the Nurses' section of the Health Care Without Harm website: http://noharm.org/tools/nurses.>References

Culver et al. (2002) Cleaning for Health: Products & Practices for a Safer Indoor Environment. [On-line]. Available: http://www.informinc.org/cleanforhealth.php.>Di Stefano, R, Siriruttanapruk, S., McCoach, J. & Serwood Burge, P. (1999). Glutaraldehyde: An occupational hazard in the hospital setting. Allergy. 54. 1105-1109.

Nethercott JR, Holness DL, Page E. Occupational contact dermatitis due to glutaraldehyde in health care workers. Contact Dermatitis. 1998 Apr: 18(4): 193-6.

Rosenman et al. (2003) Cleaning Products and Work-Related Asthma. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.: 45:556-563.

by Barb Sattler, RN, DrPH & Marian Condon, RN, MS

About the Authors:

Barbara Sattler, RN, DrPH, is the Director of the Environmental Health Education Center at the University of Maryland School of Nursing Bsattler@sn.umaryland. edu or www.cnviRN.umaryland.edu.

Marian Condon, RN, MS, is a graduate of the Community/Public Health Masters program at the University of Maryland and currently works as a Research Project Manager at the Occupational Health Program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Many thanks to the Maryland Nurses Association for sharing this article.