RISK IN CLEANING - CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL EXPOSURE

Cleaning is a large enterprise involving a large fraction of the workf orce worldwide. A broad spectrum of cleaning agents has been developed to facilitate dust and dirt removal, for disinfection and surface mai ntenance. The cleaning agents are used in large quantities throughout the world. Although a complex pattern of exposure to cleaning agents a nd resulting health problems, such as allergies and asthma, are report ed among cleaners, only a few surveys of this type of product have bee n performed. This paper gives a broad introduction to cleaning agents and the impact of cleaning on cleaners, occupants of indoor environmen ts, and the quality of cleaning. Cleaning agents are usually grouped i nto different product categories according to their technical function s and the purpose of their use (e.g. disinfectants and surface case pr oducts). The paper also indicates the adverse health and comfort effec ts associated with the use of these agents in connection with the clea ning process. The paper identifies disinfectants as the most hazardous group of cleaning agents. Cleaning agents contain evaporative and non -evaporative substances. The major toxicologically significant constit uents of the former are volatile organic compounds (VOCs), defined as substances with boiling points in the range of 0 degrees C to about 40 0 degrees C. Although laboratory emission testing has shown many VOCs with quite different time-concentration profiles, few field studies ha ve been carried out measuring the exposure of cleaners. However, both field studies and emission testing indicate that the use of cleaning a gents results in a temporal increase in the overall VOC level. This in crease may occur during the Leaning process and thus it can enhance th e probability of increased short-term exposure of the cleaners. Howeve r, the increased levels can also be present after the cleaning and res ult in an overall increased VOC level that can possibly affect the ind oor air quality (IAQ) perceived by occupants. The variety and duration of the emissions depend inter alia on the use of fragrances and high boiling VOCs. Some building materials appear to increase their VOC emi ssion through wet cleaning and thus may affect the IAQ. Particles and dirt contain a great variety of both volatile and non-volatile substan ces, including allergens. While the volatile fraction can consist of m ore than 200 different VOCs including formaldehyde, the non-volatile f raction can contain considerable amounts (> 0.5%) of fatty acid salts and tensides (e.g. linear alkyl benzene sulphonates). The level of the se substances can be high immediately after the cleaning process, but few studies have been conducted concerning this problem. The substance s partly originate from the use of cleaning agents. Both types are sus pected to be airway irritants. Cleaning activities generate dust, most ly by resuspension, but other occupant activities may also resuspend d ust over longer periods of time. Personal sampling of VOCs and airborn e dust gives higher results than stationary sampling. International bo dies have proposed air sampling strategies. A variety of field samplin g techniques for VOC and surface particle sampling is listed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.