Occupational exposures
Participants were categorized as working as cleaners at the time of their participation using
the questions “have you ever worked as a cleaner?”, “what position do you currently hold in
your company?”, and responses to a series of questions about cleaning worksites, activities,
and products used at work. As in previous analyses of EPIASLI2 data (9), respondents who
indicated that they currently work as cleaners and those with positive responses to any of the
questions about cleaning worksites, activities, and products in the last month were
categorized as “current” cleaning workers (n=693). Those who indicated that they had
worked, but do not currently work as a cleaner were categorized as “former” cleaning
workers (n=57). The remaining respondents were those who had never worked as cleaners
(n=68); this population includes office workers and other employees not performing
cleaning jobs. In this analysis, former cleaning workers and those who had never worked as
cleaners comprise the comparison population.
Respondents with positive answers to the series of questions about worksites (e.g., hospitals,
private homes, schools), activities (e.g., window cleaning), and products (e.g., ammonia,
bleach, glass cleaner) used in the last 12 months were then asked to estimate the frequency
of their work at these sites, performing these activities, or using these products, respectively,
during the last month. Glove use was accessed using a single questionnaire item: “how often
did you use rubber gloves during the last 12 months?” Whether the respondent cleaned his/
her own home was assessed with the question “do you do cleaning tasks in your home?”
Missing responses to these questions were re-assigned as negative responses – that is, not
using the specific cleaning product, use of rubber gloves less than once per week, and not
cleaning one’s own home.