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Tuesday,Z2January,2002,15:26 GMT 9se.-s!egi.

Withdrawl of disinfectant 21JanO2| Health
Controlllnghospital
hit by safety fears lnfectlon
22JanO2| Scotland
Hospltalvlrus' lmpact
spreads
Background 05 Apr O0| Heal$

a, c
Clampdownon hosPital
hyglene
23 FebOOI Heatth
Hospitalfabrlcs harbour
bugs
18 Jan O0 | Health
b
HospltalInfiectionscost
€1bn a year
.. 1
Interne! liqFs: __--
[;r6lEB:E fir surllc.t truturrunt!
il-c-produc ts u:cd to dtetnfiocrfragtte
.. : Healthand Safety
[dEEMIEil A commonlyused disinfectant in the NHS, Executlve
)* which has been the subject of reports of skin Johnsonand Johnson
sERvrcEsoroblemsand asthma,is being wlthdrawn
) DallyE-mallirOm Use. TheBBCls not resPonslble fior
the contentof external
NewsTicker
intemetsites
-l
? and Johnson, is to be
Gdex,made
--y-9!ll-"--V-tP--S by Johnson g
I-ogt! e3!!! s! t g--Lqsi -
,I *. Feedback bken off the UK market by May 1 this year. Postcodelottery tn GP
la"
111P servlces
LowGraphlcs Cidexis one of the IVF mlx-uPheadsfior
brandnames for Too manynurses court
A. Glutaraldehyde, a toxic lrave been lost to the TransPlant first for cancer
colourless, oily liquid HHS because of patient
& exposureto Costlywait with
atSoavailableaSan
solution' glutaraldehYde dementiasymptoms
$ Chickenchecked6orBSE
"qr"ori
Newhopefor Alds
GlutaraldehYde is Jon Richards vaccine
harmful if inhaledor CamPalgnto end stigma
swallowedand irritating to eyesand of mentalillness
respiratorytract- It can also causesevere Parentsto sue over
damageto the skin and eyes' epilePsYrow

But the companysay their productis safe' Unks to more Health

and is simply being replacedwith a more stories are at the foot of
effective Product- !!g-p.gg-e'--
ExPosure limits

Cidexis used by most NHShospitalsto kill

viruseson surgicalinstrumentswhich are too
fragile to be heat-treated'

It is usedin decontaminationunits .i l )l r
rrtrP./ / rrtr ws. ul i.s^r. ua/ Ll LlU LLWTLLITl' / J J Jt'SLlll
 throughoutthe country and is the most
commonly used dislnfectant in endoscopy
departments.

But the UK's Health and Safety Executive

(HSE)raisedconcernsoverthe use ofthe
disinfectant after the reports of health
problemsfrom staff o<posedto it during the
decontamination Pnocess,

In 1999, the HSEpubllshedguldancelimlting

.?J how much Glutaraldehydeworkers should be
s<Posedto.
'Ilre chemlcal hlt ttre neadlines L4 months .ago
when thousandsof peoplewere called for
_\u
medical tests after possibleo<posureto a
faultY batch.

lGood forrturces'

Jon Richards,of the health workersunion

Unisonsaid the move was good news for
nurses'health.
.. ,) He said: 'Too many nuGes have been lost to
theTttHsand TnanyvaluableYears of
experiencewasted, becauseof exposureto
glutaraldehYde.
F

G1:
Placefor it iniospitals today'

"It is well knownthat it can irritate the skin'

eyes,throat and lungs' I am delightedto
hear that it will be withdrawnfrromhospitals"'

He said Unisonhad campaignedfor years to

' get the substancebanned'

"We have taken many claimsfor

cornpensaUonfor nur$es who have had their
ctreers needlesslycut short and their lives
blighted by asthma and other health
Problenrs' through working with
gtutaratdehydein operating theatres'"

DavidHarris, EuropeanRegulatoryand
QualiWSystems Director for
Johnson&lohnson WoundManagement
Worldwide said: "Cidex Actlvated
Gluteraldehyde Sotution has been and
-!
continues to be used safely and efiectively by
hospitalsaround the world as a disinfectjng .t JrvJi
rlrp./ / rls ws. uuu.uu. uir 4 un rrrtlrLru r " J JJ+'sl'lll
L:
l-
and sterilisingsolutionfor morethan 30
years,

"As with all sterilantsand disinfectants,Cidex

must be handledwith careand certain
precautionsagainstexposureobserved."

He addedthat a faster and more effective

product - CidexOPAHigh Level Disinfectant
Solution- was beingintroducedto the UK
market.

'The transition to Gdo< OPAwill be taking

placeon a gradualbasisthis year. The active
ingredient,ortho-phthaldehyde, has a very
low vapor thresholdand inhalationpotential
is minimal."

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Background '*d wonro NEWS

Sulll.{ BY

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d#d"p.d $e aondiHon Asthmadeathsfall
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n"tut Mancfies'ter Hospiat'
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* NationalAsthma
CarnPaign
Mrs BrObbeYdevdoPed
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occupaUonalasthma in i. li;'.: :-;i*i*i::ii ;;ii::'
The Ba,Cb not r€Eponslblefor
& 1995 after cornlng into tiiql iiji-"i3"J L'u,: .r. thc conent of exEmal
;i i ';1t';i ''';'1'.;:'';'1 1'. lnt€rnet dtes
contact with the r'*;l i i 9
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tu. chemicalGdex' a
ootent disinfectant Unkr b otftGr Haolth
site€t src atttc foot trf
?i :l i :::3;t tt''i i :j ' r:;i :i ':i
reg'utarlYused in
hospltals. 9_e_P!99-
Fostlfia grsbbeY
It is known tocause
u'*iiiiniiofficuttiesandskinirritationsifnot
ProPerlYused'
five'
Mrs Brobbey, a 58-year-old mother of
du9!t ll-lTlq i1.-
was6tced6 relire^ years as a nurse'
S$rcmber 1996 after 25

The hospital trust contested her daim for and

damag& fot pasonal injuW a1d-tossesthe
t""t'iiJotdti€d to pay costs. following
tteating at i{anche*er (Ftin'fy @urt'

urLP./' rfr'ws.r.r^;.rr\t.uf,' 4 rttt r,tzlLlrt.', ruJ'4u'rult

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Mrs Brobbey sald: "I am plemed with the

rullng but I really dldnt want b give up uork.
I would go back tomorrow if I could."

Linked

She said that at ffrst she did not reallsewhat

was causlngthe attacks but then llnked them
to the chemlcal,whlctrcontalnq
glutaraldehyde, when the asffima eased off at
hornebut rctumed wtren she deaned
equiprnent

"I would start to feel better, then when I.

went back to work, tt would start againr"she
said.

"I couldn't do any dusHngand lots of things

irritate it now. I have to carry inhalers with
me all the time and the u,orst mlng about lt is
that some days lt's fine then others I am bad.

"I cannot really plan to do things that I want

to do becauseI nener know when I'm going
to have an asthma attack."
',

-f
The union Unisonbacked her claim and head
of health and safdy Hugh Robertsonsaid:
, 'fiere is no safe level of o<posureto
glutanldehyde and no place for it in hospitals
, today. It is well known that it can Initate the
skin, eyes, throat and lungs.
I
"In very rara clrcumstanceswhere lt has to
be used it should be in seafedcbntainersto
protect hospital wcrkers. I hope this case
forgesNHStrugts to look again at the use of
i' dangerouschemicalsin hospitals."

Theaward includeddamagesfor pain and

suffering, past and future loss of earnlngs,
. loss of pensionand loss of congenial
employment.

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