Health Care Without Harm seeks asthma-safe cleaning fluids and gloves:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Chemical used to clean medical equipment, latex gloves and other materials found in hospitals are responsible for triggering asthma in patients and should be replaced with alternatives. That is the view of the non-government organisation, Health Care Without Harm. With the EU's proposed regulation on the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals (REACH) nearing the end of its second reading in the European Parliament and Council, the organisation is urging hospitals to take immediate action to "clean up the indoor environment". A report just carried out in the US by HCWH, which includes recommendations that could also apply to European institutions, finds that it is not only patients at risk; nurses are at particular risk from the disinfectant, gluteraldehyde, and the sterilising agent, ethylene oxide. Some 5.2 million people in the UK alone suffer from asthma.