ArticleAmerican journal of industrial medicine2020
Occupational exposure to disinfectants and asthma incidence in U.S. nurses: A prospective cohort study.
Article in American journal of industrial medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Occupational Health Effects of Chlorine Spraying in Healthcare Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Alternative Disinfectants and Application Methods.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review of the relation between ten potential occupational sensitizing exposures and asthma.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2025Pooled it
- Are Healthcare Workers at an Increased Risk for Obstructive Respiratory Diseases Due to Cleaning and Disinfection Agents? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- When behavior outweighs infrastructure: disinfectant and latex exposure and preventive practice among operating room nurses in China.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Chlorine gas and ultrafine particle emissions from bleach disinfection: exposure risk characterization.Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England) · 2025Article
- Occupational Exposure to Disinfectants and Risk of Incident Cardiovascular Disease among US Nurses: The Nurses' Health Study II.Environmental health perspectives · 2025Article
- Respiratory quaternary ammonium and volatile organic compound exposures experienced by home care aides during residential bathroom cleaning using conventional and green products.Annals of work exposures and health · 2025Article
- Volatile organic compounds and ionic substances contamination in cell processing facilities during rest period; a preliminary assessment of exposure to cell processing operators.Regenerative therapy · 2023Article
- Exposure frequency, intensity, and duration: What we know about work-related asthma risks for healthcare workers from cleaning and disinfection.Journal of occupational and environmental hygiene · 2023Review
- Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and risk of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a prospective cohort study.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2023Article
- The Lesson Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic: Can an Active Chemical Be Effective, Safe, Harmless-for-Humans and Low-Cost at a Time? Evidence on Aerosolized Hypochlorous Acid.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- The relationship between cleaning product exposure and respiratory and skin symptoms among healthcare workers in a hospital setting: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Health science reports · 2022Article
- Assessment of home care aides' respiratory exposure to total volatile organic compounds and chlorine during simulated bathroom cleaning: An experimental design with conventional and "green" products.Journal of occupational and environmental hygiene · 2021Article
- Occupational use of high-level disinfectants and asthma incidence in early- to mid-career female nurses: a prospective cohort study.Occupational and environmental medicine · 2021Article
- Clinical Importance of Work-Exacerbated Asthma: Findings From a Prospective Asthma Cohort in a Highly Industrialized City in Korea.Allergy, asthma & immunology research · 2021Article
- Causes and Phenotypes of Work-Related Asthma.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundExposure to disinfectants among healthcare workers has been associated with respiratory health effects, in particular, asthma. However, most studies are cross-sectional and the role of disinfectant exposures in asthma development requires longitudinal studies. We investigated the association between occupational exposure to disinfectants and incident asthma in a large cohort of U.S. female nurses.
methodsThe Nurses' Health Study II is a prospective cohort of 116 429 female nurses enrolled in 1989. Analyses included 61 539 participants who were still in a nursing job and with no history of asthma in 2009 (baseline; mean age: 55 years). During 277 744 person-years of follow-up (2009-2015), 370 nurses reported incident physician-diagnosed asthma. Occupational exposure was evaluated by questionnaire and a Job-Task-Exposure Matrix (JTEM). We examined the association between disinfectant exposure and subsequent asthma development, adjusted for age, race, ethnicity, smoking status, and body mass index.
resultsWeekly use of disinfectants to clean surfaces only (23% exposed) or to clean medical instruments (19% exposed) was not associated with incident asthma (adjusted hazard ratio [95% confidence interval] for surfaces, 1.12 [0.87-1.43]; for instruments, 1.13 [0.87-1.48]). No association was observed between high-level exposure to specific disinfectants/cleaning products evaluated by the JTEM (formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, bleach, hydrogen peroxide, alcohol quats, or enzymatic cleaners) and asthma incidence.
conclusionsIn a population of late career nurses, we observed no significant association between exposure to disinfectants and asthma incidence. A potential role of disinfectant exposures in asthma development warrants further study among healthcare workers at earlier career stage to limit the healthy worker effect.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.