Eye hazard classification according to UN GHS / EU CLP and the severity of eye symptoms caused by accidental exposures to detergents and cleaning products

Scazzola, Roberto; Boeije, Geert; Pedersen, Elisabeth A.; Brenneman, William A.; Caganova, Blazena; Celentano, A.; Coninck, Els De; Desel, Herbert; Ebbehøj, Niels Erik; Färber, Elke; Sesana, Fabrizio; Zacharov, Sergej

doi:10.1016/j.yrtph.2019.04.004

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…A large majority of the participants (about 80% for each of the three labels) reported that they would rinse the eyes with water, which is, indeed, the recommended first measure to be taken. It is also the action that was reported for 96% of accidental eye exposures to detergent and cleaning products reported to Poison Control Centres across several countries in Europe (Scazzola et al, 2019). About one in five respondents would immediately go to or call the doctor.…”

Section: Safety Intentionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the effectiveness of simplified labels for safe use communication: The case of household detergents

Geuens

Byrne²,

Boeije³

et al. 2021

Int J Consumer Studies

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This study assessed the effectiveness of safety communication on the back labels of hazardous products (with regulatory and safety information as dictated by regulatory requirements), with household detergents as a test case. The potential of simplification to increase label effectiveness was evaluated by comparing the currently used labelling approach with two simplified alternatives. The labels mainly differed in terms of the amount of information and the prominence of pictograms. The generalisability of theoretical insights on the effectiveness of pictograms in safety messages to a more real-life context was tested by (a) realistic labels containing several other information elements besides the safety information and (b) target users who are knowledgeable about the product type. One thousand eight hundred (1,800) respondents participated in an online experiment and were randomly exposed to one of the labels. The positive cognitive and behavioural effects commonly attributed to pictorials could not be confirmed, but positive affective effects did emerge. Specifically, even though participants were asked to carefully read the label, they did not spend enough time to process all the content except for the most simplified label. The results did not show meaningful differences between the three labels in terms of information recall (which was poor for all executions), hazard perceptions and behavioural intentions when confronted with an accident. In contrast to this lack of differentiation in cognitive and behavioural intention effects, we did find a clear difference in the affective measure. A majority of the respondents preferred the simplified safety labels. As such, avoiding information overload, and conveying the information in an easier way by means of more prominent use of pictograms, appeared to be appreciated by consumers of household products, while it did not negatively impact label effectiveness.

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Section: Safety Intentionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the effectiveness of simplified labels for safe use communication: The case of household detergents

Geuens

Byrne²,

Boeije³

et al. 2021

Int J Consumer Studies

Self Cite

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“…The corrosive and irritative properties of cleaning agents may also cause acute effects or injuries, such as respiratory irritation and chemical burns on skin and eyes. Poison control data have been used to identify or review the health hazards of cleaning agents, in general ( Arici et al , 2012 ; Scazzola et al , 2019 ) and at work ( Schenk and Öberg, 2018 ; Schenk et al , 2020 ). A survey of occupational cases handled by the Swedish Poisons Information Centre (PIC) showed that one-fourth of all cases involved cleaning agents or disinfectants, one-third of which were classified as major risk cases, generally due to potential for corrosive eye and skin injuries ( Schenk et al , 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Overview of Cleaning Agents’ Health Hazards and Occupational Injuries and Diseases Attributed to Them in Sweden

Kathare

Julander

Erfani

et al. 2022

Annals of Work Exposures and Health

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Using data from the Swedish Products Register, hosted by the Swedish Chemicals Agency (KemI), national occupational injury and disease statistics, and call records from the Swedish Poisons Information Centre (PIC) we characterize health hazards of marketed cleaning products and recorded injuries, disease, and incidents linked to cleaning or disinfection agents. The results show that cleaning agents pose many kinds of health hazards, although corrosion and irritation hazards dominate, in particular for the eyes (54% of all included products). Few products were recognized as inhalation hazards. The nature of the health hazards is reflected in the occupational disease and injury statistics and PIC records for eyes and skin but not for the respiratory tract. Among occupational disease cases attributed to cleaning or disinfection agents, 61% concern skin and 26% the respiratory tract. Among occupational injury cases 64% concern chemical burns. However, only a small part (<0.5%) of all reported diseases and injuries were explicitly attributed to cleaning or disinfection agents. On average, there were 11 cases of disease attributed to cleaning or disinfection agents per million workers and year. For occupational injuries the corresponding number was 8. The data concern a broad range of sectors and occupations, but notable sectors were healthcare, accommodation and food service, and manufacturing. Women were more likely to suffer from disease, men and women equally likely to suffer from injury. PIC cases were evenly distributed between men and women, but the clear risk cases more frequently involved men. Occupational diseases increased many-fold in 2020 while injuries decreased, which could be due to COVID-19 changing use patterns of cleaning and disinfection agents at work. We conclude that cleaning agents pose a variety of risks to a large part of the workforce, although particular attention for preventive efforts may need to be directed to the healthcare, accommodation and food service, and manufacturing sectors.

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Vergiftungsdokumentation und ‑berichterstattung in Deutschland

Desel

2019

Bundesgesundheitsbl

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Eye hazard classification according to UN GHS / EU CLP and the severity of eye symptoms caused by accidental exposures to detergents and cleaning products

Cited by 4 publications

References 7 publications

Investigating the effectiveness of simplified labels for safe use communication: The case of household detergents

Investigating the effectiveness of simplified labels for safe use communication: The case of household detergents

An Overview of Cleaning Agents’ Health Hazards and Occupational Injuries and Diseases Attributed to Them in Sweden

Vergiftungsdokumentation und ‑berichterstattung in Deutschland

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