WORLD NEWS
Tomorrow's Cleaning News pages sponsored by Katrin.
www.katrin.com
World News
Chemical Cleaning Solutions Trigger Asthma Symptoms According To New
Study The use of chemical cleaning products in the workplace has increased dramatically over the past 20 years. However, the amount of research undertaken to assess the increased risk to employee health has up until recently been negligible. Research, such as the recently released study by David Vizcaya at the University of Montreal, is now starting to highlight the impact that the use of chemical cleaners are having on professional cleaning service employees.
The study shows that fumes from cleaning products used at work can trigger asthma symptoms. Vizcaya and his team evaluated the health of 21 cleaners who had asthma symptoms over the past year, over a period of two weeks. All were employees of cleaning companies in Barcelona. The participants recorded the different types of chemicals used during the period and any symptoms they suffered. On average they used just over two different types of cleaning products each day, and on three out of every four working days were exposed to at least one strong irritant, such as ammonia, bleach or hydrochloric acid.
During this period the researchers found that 17 out of the 21 cleaners reported at least one upper respiratory tract symptom, such as sneezing, scratchy throat and runny nose. 18 out of 21 participants also reported other symptoms such as coughing, wheezing or chest pain,
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with a strong association between exposure to cleaning products and these symptoms among individuals with a history of asthma.
After seeing the results of the study, Martin Booth, Managing Director at Green World Innovations said: “The use of harsh chemicals such as bleach, hydrochloric acid and ammonia is higher than ever before, and yet we still have relatively little idea what long term impact exposure to them is having on the health of professional cleaning staff.
“However, we would expect that the more studies that are undertaken on chemical cleaning products, the more we will see the implicit connection between them and the impact on employee health. With this already increasing volume of evidence, companies now have to weigh up the effectiveness of the cleaning chemicals against the health of their staff.
“There are viable alternatives available though, and organisations now need to look for chemical free solutions that can clean as effectively as chemicals without having a negative impact on employee health and the environment.
“The health issues associated with chemical cleaning products are not going to go away. Companies can bury their head in the sand, but ultimately we are going to see more studies with more conclusive evidence that the solutions many companies are currently using are harming their staff. Many are turning to viable chemical free solutions and those that do not will be risking the long term health not only of their staff but their company as a whole.”
The study and its findings can be found here.
www.tomorrowscleaning.com
Western Hygiene Acquires The Janitorial Division
Of Celtic Linen Last month, Western Hygiene Supplies Ltd. announced the acquisition of the Janitorial and Chemical Division of Celtic Linen Ltd., with the intention of providing customers with best- in-class hygiene and healthcare products and services.
For strategic reasons Celtic Linen have decided to concentrate on their core laundry, linen and ancillary business. To continue supply to their customer base and to preserve the goodwill of the customers for other services, they have worked with Western Hygiene to supply janitorial and chemical requirements to their customers.
Philip Scallan, Managing Director of Celtic Linen, said: “We have collaborated with Western Hygiene to look after this business as their reputation for quality, supply and service are second to none and we know that our customers will be delighted with their broad range of products and services.”
Kevin Collins, Managing Director of Western Hygiene added: “We are excited to announce our collaboration with Celtic Linen, which fits well with our strategy to double our sales by 2017 through acquisitions and geographical expansion. Our primary objective is to provide a continuous quality of service to Celtic Linen customers.”
www.westernhygiene.ie
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