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Cleaning trolley with cleaning supplies in an office building
Photo: Ralf Hirschberger/ Ralf Hirschberger/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
The pandemic also has consequences that are not obvious: Offices, sports studios and shops, but also private households have probably been cleaned and disinfected particularly intensively in the past two years.
However, according to a study, commercially available cleaning agents for disinfecting indoor surfaces can introduce small pollutant particles into the respiratory tract of people - at a level that occurs when inhaling car exhaust fumes in urban canyons or is even higher.
The team led by chemist Colleen Rosales, who was conducting research at Indiana University at the time, presented the results in the journal Science Advances.
Several studies have already suggested that cleaning agents not only clean, but may also be harmful to health.
A long-term Norwegian study published in 2018 found that people who clean a lot have weaker lungs than those who never clean.
The scientists at the University of Bergen observed the strongest drop in lung function among cleaning workers.
These were also the focus of a Belgian study that reported a year earlier that the risk of death among male cleaning professionals was significantly higher than that of office workers, for example.
Private individuals could be even more at risk because they knew little about the relevant safety measures and used the products incorrectly or combined them without hesitation.
According to the authors of the Belgian study, one of the most basic precautionary measures is the wearing of gloves.
However, a study by a team led by chemist Colleen Rosales, who was conducting research at Indiana University at the time, suggests that not only direct skin contact could be problematic.
The researchers focused in particular on cleaning products that "naturally" smell like citrus fruits or pine.
Such cleaners often contain monoterpenes, which are the main components of essential oils.
As the researchers describe, these agents release volatile organic compounds (VOC).
Some VOCs, coming from a variety of sources, could cause sensory irritation, headaches, but also organ damage and even cancer, according to a listing by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
A test room of 20 square meters was mopped and cleaned
For the study, a test room measuring a good 20 square meters was wiped and cleaned with a commercially available cleaning agent based on monoterpenes for almost a quarter of an hour, while the scientists continuously analyzed the room air.
According to the team's calculations, a person using such a cleaner will inhale around 30 to 40 micrograms of primary volatile organic compounds per minute at the beginning of the mopping.
In addition, there would be 0.1 to 0.7 micrograms of secondary organic aerosols, which would result from the reaction of the product with the room air.
In terms of mass, that is not much, but many of the particles produced are in the nano-size range and could therefore be relevant to health, since they are able to penetrate the deepest regions of the lungs.
However, the authors themselves emphasize that little is known about the toxicological profile of these particles, although according to earlier studies a cell-damaging effect cannot be ruled out.
Despite these uncertainties, there is cause for concern for people who spend a lot of time cleaning indoor surfaces, for example because of their work as janitors or building cleaners.
"Furthermore, workplace and home exposures that result in health impairments are likely to be influenced by increased chemical disinfection of indoor surfaces during the current coronavirus pandemic," the authors continue.
What to do until you know more?
Intelligent ventilation, the researchers say, could help to reduce the accumulation of particles.
ok/dpa
