Daily exposure to disinfectants could be increasing nurses' lung disease risk

Embargoed until: Publicly released:
Regular use of chemical disinfectants among nurses could increase their risk of lung disease, according to a US study of over 73,000 female registered nurses with no history of lung disease. Chemical disinfectants are widely used in hospitals to reduce the spread of disease, but researchers found the nurses’ exposure was associated with a 25 to 28 per cent increased risk of developing lung disease, even when asthma and smoking habits were accounted for. While this study cannot prove cause-and-effect, researchers suggest we should start exploring new ways to maintain infection control standards in hospitals and reduce healthcare workers’ daily exposure to disinfectants and cleaning agents.

Journal/conference: JAMA Network Open

Link to research (DOI): 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.13563

Organisation/s: VIMA—Aging and Chronic Diseases, France

Funder: This study was supported in part by grants R01 OH-010359 from the CDC (Dr Camargo, principal investigator [PI]) and UM1 CA-176726 from the National Institutes of Health. The research leading to the results presented herein has received funding from the People Program (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013) (Dr Dumas, PI) under REA grant agreement PCOFUND-GA-2013-609102 through the PRESTIGE program coordinated by Campus France.

Media Release

From: JAMA

Is Exposure to Disinfectants, Cleaning Products at Work Associated With COPD Among Female Nurses?

About JAMA Network Open: JAMA Network Open is the new online-only open access general medical journal from the JAMA Network. Every Wednesday and Friday, the journal publishes peer-reviewed clinical research and commentary in more than 40 medical and health subject areas. Every article is free online from the day of publication.

What The Study Did: This observational study investigated an association between exposure to disinfectants and cleaning products at work and risk of new cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among a large group of female nurses.

Authors: Orianne Dumas, Ph.D., of INSERM U1168, VIMA: Aging and Chronic Diseases, Epidemiological and Public Health Approaches in Villejuif, France, is the corresponding author.

(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.13563)

Attachments:

Note: Not all attachments are visible to the general public

  • JAMA
    Web page
    The URL will go live after the embargo ends.

News for:

International

Media contact details for this story are only visible to registered journalists.