A new study led by researchers at the University of Saskatchewan or USask specified, cleaning surfaces indoors using hydrogen peroxide-based disinfectants has the potential to cause pollution in the air and posture health risks.
Specifically, the team of scientists discovered that mopping the floor using commercially-available disinfectant that's hydrogen peroxide-based increased the level of airborne hydrogen peroxide to over 600 parts a billion, roughly 60 percent of the maximum level allowed for exposure more than eight hours, "and 600 times the level naturally occurring in the air." Results of the study were published yesterday in the Environmental Science and Technology journal.
According to Tara Kahan, a USask chemistry researcher and the study's senior author, when washing surfaces, one is also changing the air he is breathing.
Kahan, also the Canada Research Chair in Environmental Analytical Chemistry added, poor indoor air quality is linked to respiratory problems like asthma.
Exposure to Hydrogen Peroxide
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, overexposure to hydrogen peroxide could result in "respiratory, skin and eye irritation."
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in increased cleaning and demand for all kinds of cleaning and disinfecting products, which include bleach alternatives containing hydrogen peroxide.
Kahan explained, at the start of this global health crisis, they could not conduct a study on this topic as hydrogen peroxide solutions were out of stock.
The research team, which also comprised Syracuse University, Toronto-based York University, and England-based University of York researchers, sprayed 0.88 percent hydrogen peroxide disinfectant on the vinyl floor in a simulated room environment and wiped it using a paper towel, either right away or after allowing it to soak in for one hour. As indicated in the report, researchers then examined the air "at human head height."
Risk Identified But Impact Remains Unknown
Also, according to Kahan, the real risk for individuals who get exposed repeatedly like house cleaners and janitors. "We washed the floor or collected measurements at face height," she explained, adding, the concentrations would be even stronger at a countertop level or the floor.
The senior author also said that the impact on both children and pets, those physically closer to surfaces that are disinfected, remains unknown.
According to reports on this new finding, more than 10 percent of disinfecting products approved by Health Canada that are considered likely to be effective against COVID-19 infection "use hydrogen peroxide as the active ingredient."
One hundred sixty-eight disinfectants in all, with hydrogen peroxide content as the active ingredient, are approved or promoted in Canada.
Recommendations
Kahan's suggested, there are few ways to lessen risks when disinfecting surfaces at home. Specifically, she recommended the use of soap and water instead of a disinfecting product. Soap and water are both popular products when it comes to killing the virus that causes COVID-19.
She also suggested opening a window, turning the range hood on, or using the central air system. Ventilation, she explained, can substantially lower the levels of pollutants that circulate in the air and is one of the most effective strategies for eliminating particles that can carry the virus.
Essentially, choose hydrogen peroxide-based disinfecting products over bleach; as Kahan noted, this solution is much less potentially harmful than bleach.
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