Occupational exposure during cleaning and disinfection in the food industry

An exposure assessment study was conducted in eight food industry plants. Significant exposure to nitrogen trichloride beyond the comfort limit value of 0.5 mg.m -3 was measured, primarily in two slaughterhouses (cattle and poultry) during the cleaning step performed with chlorinated alkali-based detergents. Excessive exposure to formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde was also registered during the disinfection step in the cattle slaughterhouse and in two other plants (fish curing and smoking and pet food manufacturing factories). Special emphasis was placed on the necessity of performing careful rinsing after the cleaning and disinfection steps: in one factory exposure to chlorine gas was determined, and in another where glutaraldehyde was used some dermal irritations appeared when this rinsing step was neglected.