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. 2022 Feb 26;66(6):741–753. doi: 10.1093/annweh/wxac006

Table 4.

Number of PIC cases per type of exposure, product group, and PIC experts’ assessment of risk.

Major risk
n (%)
Moderate risk
n (%)
Minor riska
n (%)
Sum of cases
n (%)
% major risk
Total number of cases 780 (100) 1416 (100) 803 (100) 2999 (100) 26%
 Of which women 288 (37) 726 (51) 506 (63) 1520 (51) 19%
 Of which men 460 (59) 671 (47) 281 (35) 1412 (47) 33%
 Of which unknown sex 32 (4) 19 (1) 16 (2) 67 (2) 48%
Type of exposure
 Alkali 517 (66) 582 (41) 145 (18) 1244 (41) 42%
 Alcohol 0 (0) 104 (7) 234 (29) 338 (11) 0%
 Acids 87 (11) 148 (10) 58 (7) 293 (10) 30%
 Hypochlorite 34 (4) 132 (9) 50 (6) 213 (7) 16%
 Quats 48 (6) 41 (3) 17 (2) 106 (4) 45%
 Surfactant 0 (0) 40 (3) 65 (8) 105 (4) 0%
 Other/unknown 97 (12) 369 (26) 234 (29) 700 (23) 14%
Product group
 Disinfectant 67 (9) 247 (17) 302 (38) 616 (21) 11%
 Professional cleaning 218 (28) 276 (19) 56 (7) 550 (18) 40%
 Dishwasher detergents 181 (23) 177 (13) 54 (7) 412 (14) 44%
 Oven and grill cleaners 73 (9) 90 (6) 16(2) 179 (6) 41%
 Descaling agents 42 (5) 78 (6) 51 (6) 171 (6) 25%
 Bleach 24 (3) 79 (6) 28 (3) 131 (4) 18%
 Sewer and drain cleaners 44 (6) 62 (4) 21 (3) 127 (4) 35%
 All-purpose cleaner 2 (0) 40 (3) 37 (5) 79 (3) 3%
 Pool chemical 3 (0) 35 (2) 22 (3) 60 (2) 5%
 Mould and algae remover 15 (2) 26 (2) 8 (1) 49 (2) 31%
 Kitchen cleaning 10 (1) 24 (2) 8 (1) 42 (1) 24%
 Sanitary cleaners 3 (0) 22 (2) 11 (1) 36 (1) 8%
 Laundry detergent 6 (1) 12 (1) 13 (2) 31 (1) 19%
 Hand dishwashing agents 0 (0) 11(1) 19 (2) 30 (1) 0%
 Other cleaning agents 92 (12) 237 (17) 157 (20) 486 (16) 19%

Quats, quaternary ammonium compounds.

a The column minor risk also includes 68 cases for which risk was recorded as undetermined.