Uses & Products

Antiseptic handwash and hand rub products kill disease-causing microorganisms on the skin and reduce the spread of communicable illnesses in health care settings. Hand and skin disinfection products include soaps, gels, and foams containing alcohol (typically isopropanol and/or ethanol), triclosan, or other antiseptic ingredients like chlorhexidine (or chlorhexidine gluconate), chloroxylenol (or PCMX), hexachlorophene, iodophor compounds, and quaternary ammonium compounds.

Health Concerns

Antiseptic chemicals including chlorhexidine, hexachlorophene, and quaternary ammonium compounds are asthmagens. Fragrance and other ingredients in handwash and hand rub products may also trigger asthma attacks.

Survey Findings

0 percent of more than 1,500 nurses surveyed reported on-the-job exposures. In our survey, nurses with frequent, long-term exposures to hand and skin disinfection products (at least weekly for at least ten years) reported 39 percent higher rates of asthma than other nurses.

Exposure and disease frequencies provided represent responses from more than 1,500 nurses to an online survey concerning their job history, their health, and the health of their children. Analysis of these data show that nurses highly exposed to hand and skin disinfection reported a number of health problems at higher rates than other nurses.

Note: This survey was not "controlled" — it was open to any nurse interested in responding. Therefore, it is not possible to cannot draw rigorous, scientific conclusions from the data. But the survey does show that many nurses exposed to chemicals and other hazards on the job are experiencing health problems. More research is critically needed.

Exposures are prevalent: 1,552 nurses & hand and skin disinfection

0% are now or were ever exposed on the job

0% of nurses exposed while pregnant

0% of nurses exposed currently or over past 5 years

0% of nurses exposed routinely (at least once per week) for 10 years or more

Commonly reported health problems

Among the 0 nurses routinely exposed**:<

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SELECT distinct healthoutcome1to1.id FROM healthoutcome1to1,employ_exposure WHERE child_id=0 AND healthoutcome1to1.id=employ_exposure.id AND (diagnosis LIKE "dermatitis" or diagnosis LIKE "Contact Dermatitis") AND chemical IN ('alcohol_gel','antimicrobial') AND ( years_some + years_reg+years_day)>=10