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PubMed1984

Killing of fabric-associated bacteria in hospital laundry by low-temperature washing.

Hospitals using 71.1 C water for laundering consume vast amounts of energy. We studied whether washing at 22 C would result in fabric-associated bacterial counts significantly different from those remaining after the high-temperature wash procedure in general use. Using a standard method to enumerate fabric-associated bacteria, we found that soiled sheets and terry cloth items were contaminated, respectively, with 10(6) and 10(8) cfu/100 cm2 of fabric area, predominantly gram-negative rods (especially Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonadaceae). Staphylococcus species were the most common gram-positive organisms. A standard low-temperature washing cycle without laundry chemicals removed 3 log10 of bacteria by agitation, dilution, and drainage. When low-temperature laundry chemicals were used, 3 log10 of bacteria were killed after the bleach was added, and sheets and terry cloth items had postwash colony counts of 10(1)-10(2) cfu/100 cm2. Drying removed an additional 1-2 log10 organisms. Bacterial counts and species from low- and high-temperature washed fabrics were comparable. Low-temperature washing is therefore as effective as high-temperature washing for eliminating pathogenic bacteria from hospital laundry.

Bacteria↗

PubMed1992

Conservation and laundry: using outside vendors to clean reusable linens.

Using outside laundry facilities is a viable and efficient means for hospitals to clean and sanitize soiled linens. Such services also allow hospitals to achieve cost-effective linen systems. All kinds of linen products, including gowns, sheets, blankets, pillowcases, mops, diapers, and surgical textiles, are easily processed through such purveyors. Even newer fabrics with improved barrier protection qualities can be serviced. The three elements that make up the laundry cost equation are purchasing, processing, and usage. Improvements and reductions in any one of these areas positively affect the other two. With this in mind, a hospital and an outside laundry service should work closely together to improve linen management, to control usage, and to remove waste, thus reducing hospitals' per-patient-day costs. Close interaction and teamwork will make the relationship work with dynamic results. Together, both parties will grow and meet the ever-evolving needs of the health care industry.

Bedding and Linens↗

PubMed2003

Late-onset respiratory distress after inhalation of laundry detergent.

Accidental poisoning with household cleaning products can pose significant risks to children. Exposure to granular laundry detergents accounts for a number of calls each year to poison control centers, though few of these exposures result in hospitalization. While caustic gastrointestinal injury resulting from ingestion of these highly alkaline cleaning agents is well-recognized, few reports address the potential damage to the respiratory tract that can occur following ingestion or inhalation of granular laundry detergent. We present a previously healthy 1-year-old who presented to the emergency department with Late-onset stridor and increased work of breathing following presumed inhalation of granular laundry detergent. Parents, primary care providers, and emergency department physicians need to be aware of the potential toxicity of these widely used household products.

Administration, Inhalation↗

PubMed2006

Inhalation and dermal exposure to eight antineoplastic drugs in an industrial laundry facility.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of the study were to quantify levels of dermal and inhalation exposure to antineoplastic drugs in an industrial laundry service in the Netherlands and to test the removal efficiency of the washing procedure for removal of antineoplastic drugs. METHODS: During four workdays dermal and inhalation exposure to eight frequently used antineoplastic drugs (cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil, etoposide, cytarabine, gemcitabine and chlorambucil) were measured for all job titles involved in handling unwashed laundry. To test the removal efficiency of the washing procedure, 10 x 10 cm sections were excised before and after the washing procedure. These sections were taken from 15 bed sheets that were collected in hospitals of patients who were treated with one of the selected antineoplastic drugs. RESULTS: During none of the four measurement days, detectable levels of any of the eight antineoplastic drugs (cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil, etoposide, cytarabine, gemcitabine, or chlorambucil) were found on workers' skin of hands or in any of the air samples. Only four out of the 15 bed sheets from patients that were treated with antineoplastic drugs appeared to be contaminated with detectable levels of antineoplastic drugs before the washing procedure (range 13.0-3,060 ng/100 cm(2)). After the pre-washing and after the complete washing procedure, no detectable levels of any of the eight antineoplastic drugs were found anymore in the selected bed sheets. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of guidelines for working with antineoplastic drugs seems to be successful in reducing exposure to antineoplastic drugs of workers in this laundry facility to an acceptable, non-detectable level and to remove antineoplastic drug contamination from bed linen.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

PubMed1987

The effectiveness of three sets of school-based instructional materials and community training on the acquisition and generalization of community laundry skills by students with severe handicaps.

This study examined the effectiveness of three sets of school-based instructional materials and community training on acquisition and generalization of a community laundry skill by nine students with severe handicaps. School-based instruction involved artificial materials (pictures), simulated materials (cardboard replica of a community washing machine), and natural materials (modified home model washing machine). Generalization assessments were conducted at two different community laundromats, on two machines represented fully by the school-based instructional materials and two machines not represented fully by these materials. After three phases of school-based instruction, the students were provided ten community training trials in one laundromat setting and a final assessment was conducted in both the trained and untrained community settings. A multiple probe design across students was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the three types of school instruction and community training. After systematic training, most of the students increased their laundry performance with all three sets of school-based materials; however, generalization of these acquired skills was limited in the two community settings. Direct training in one of the community settings resulted in more efficient acquisition of the laundry skills and enhanced generalization to the untrained laundromat setting for most of the students. Results of this study are discussed in regard to the issue of school versus community-based instruction and recommendations are made for future research in this area.

Educational Measurement↗

PubMed1975

Skin irritancy and sensitivity to laundry detergents containing proteolytic enzymes. Part II.

The late type contact sensitizing effect of alkaline protease enzymes (PE) on the intact human skin has been investigated in the present study. The immune process of sensitisation was induced with "Tenzym prilled" (TP, Grindstedvoerket) and with "Maxatase" (M, Gist-Brocades) protease enzymes in the epicutaneous test (ET), using concentration series and various durations of application. The ETs were made on the intact (symptom-free) skin, as well as under conditions promoting the subcorneal penetration of PE. Challenge was carried out at 21 to 30 days following induction of 2092 subjects, and at 2 to 5 months on 1624 subjects. Despite the large number of subjects tested, contact sensitisation developed in none of the cases, although the inducing exposure took place under conditions promoting the immune process of sensitisation. In 60 individuals suffereing from occupational dermatitis on regular contact with PE and having no symptoms of early type inhalative allergy (mucous membrane changes, bronchial asthma-like symptoms) were challenged also by the intradermal test. No reaction was noted in any of them at 10 and 30 minutes, as well as at 24 and 48 hours following the test. Next the influence of PE is analysed in the induction or increased severity of the irritation caused by bioactive laundry detergents. The studies involved the use of serial dilutions of "Biopon" (Bn) laundry detergent containing TP or M, or not containing PE, respectively, by means of the ET. A total of 740 series (5220 tests) of the three variants were applied in dilution series to intact skin surface, as well as to pathologically and arteficially lsioned skin areas. The Bn variants containing and not containing PE increased the number of irratative reactions in essentially the same degree. This suggests that the irritative effect is not due to the presence of PE, but to the laundry-active detergents (WAS) of Bn in the first place, and to a lesser extent to its other ingredients.

Chemical Industry↗

PubMed1987

Effect of water temperature on bacterial killing in laundry.

The increasing cost of energy directed our attention to testing the feasibility of low temperature washing. Hospital laundries use formulated chemicals at high temperature wash waters of 66 degrees C. Wash water effluents and fabric bacterial counts of heavily soiled linen were correlated with alkalinity and temperature measurements to investigate the bacterial killing action of hot and cold wash formulas. Terry towels were found to be contaminated with 10(7) to 10(9) organisms per 100 cm2 at the beginning of the washing process. The most common gram-negative rods found were Klebsiella, Enterobacter and Serratia species. Staphylococci were the predominant gram-positives. Both cold and hot water washing including the bleach cycle reduced bacterial counts in fabric by 3 log10. Similarly wash water cfu/mL mL declined 3 to 4 log10. A further 0.5 to 1.0 log10 reduction was effected in the 93.3 degrees C drying cycle. Low temperature wash formulas were comparable to high temperature laundry with respect to bacterial counts and species. Cold water formulas at 31.1 degrees C offer an alternative method to reduce energy consumption and maintain bacteriological and esthetic linen quality.

Bacteria↗

PubMed1986

Is there a future for the off-site laundry?

With steeply rising costs of labor, materials, utilities, and borrowed money, hospitals considering means of improving their laundry-linen service or quality must review the financial impact of various options. This article examines the financial viability of on-site modernization and development of off-site laundries.

Capital Expenditures↗

PubMed1987

Developments in linen services: modern laundry design considerations.

Design Guidance in planning laundries is covered in Health Building Note Number 25 but there have been some further developments in laundry plant, energy conservation and the use of service utilities. This paper is intended to cover those developments, until a revision of that document is completed. These developments will not affect the overall departmental areas provision but will require some adjustments to areas in the various production section and perhaps some minor adjustments to the ancillary accommodation.

Conservation of Energy Resources↗

PubMed1987

Developments in linen services: modern laundry design considerations--Part 2.

Equipment Design↗

PubMed1987

Maximize housekeeping and laundry productivity with variable staffing.

Forward thinking housekeeping and laundry directors realize that variable staffing offers a strategy for consistently achieving maximum productivity. This article defines variable staffing, explains why it is applicable to hospital housekeeping and laundry functions, and identifies and discusses the key elements that must be dealt with to implement a variable staffing system.

Efficiency↗

PubMed1999

Hospital saves $1 million by outsourcing laundry.

Thirty-five percent of hospitals nationwide are outsourcing laundry services, according to the Textile Rental Services Association. Pennsylvania Hospital cut its cost per pound of laundry from 61.5 cents to 46 cents, saving $1 million in its first year of outsourcing. Outsourcing also brought the hospital better inventory control, more efficient delivery, and fewer complaints about missing items.

Cost Savings↗

PubMed1990

[Specialty specific reference values in linen use in public health and social service as a basis for determining laundry capacities].

The use of linen in health and social care should primarily be seen from a hygienic angle. Disproportions between the use of linen in the various fields of health care and the available laundry capacities have a negative hygienic and economic effect. Laundry capacities should, therefore, be calculated on the basis of specialty-specific guidevalues. The authors propose indicators suitable to this aim and present the results of a comprehensive analysis for the inpatient departments of internal medicine, surgery, urology, ophthalmology and otorhinolaryngology.

Bedding and Linens↗

PubMed2005

Modified salting-out method: high-yield, high-quality genomic DNA extraction from whole blood using laundry detergent.

Different approaches have been used to extract DNA from whole blood. In most of these methods enzymes (such as proteinase K and RNAse A) or toxic organic solvents (such as phenol or guanidine isothiocyanate) are used. Since these enzymes are expensive, and most of the materials that are used routinely are toxic, it is desirable to apply an efficient DNA extraction procedure that does not require the use of such materials. In this study, genomic DNA was extracted by the salting-out method, but instead of using an analytical-grade enzyme and chemical detergents, as normally used for DNA isolation, a common laundry powder was used. Different concentrations of the powder were tested, and proteins were precipitated by NaCl-saturated distilled water. Finally, DNA precipitation was performed with the use of 96% ethanol. From the results, we conclude that the optimum concentration of laundry powder for the highest yield and purity of isolated DNA is 30 mg/mL. The procedure was optimized, and a final protocol is suggested. Following the same protocol, DNA was extracted from 100 blood samples, and their amounts were found to be >50 microg/mL of whole blood. The integrity of the DNA fragments was confirmed by agarose gel electrophoresis. Furthermore, the extracted DNA was used as a template for PCR reaction. The results obtained from PCR showed that the final solutions of extracted DNA did not contain any inhibitory material for the enzyme used in the PCR reaction, and indicated that the isolated DNA was of good quality. These results show that this method is simple, fast, safe, and cost-effective, and can be used in medical laboratories and research centers.

DNA↗

PubMed1999

Toxicity of laundry detergent components to a freshwater cladoceran and their contribution to detergent toxicity.

The toxicity of 39 laundry detergent components including surfactants, enzymes, builders, fabric brighteners, fillers, and coloring agents to the cladoceran Ceriodaphnia cf. dubia was determined. The difference between the most and the least toxic components was approximately 17,000-fold and 1,000,000-fold for the mg/L and mmol/L EC50 data, respectively. Two of the components had high toxicity (EC50 values < 1 mg/L), 11 moderate toxicity (EC50 values between 1 and 10 mg/L), and the remaining 26 components had low toxicity (EC50 values > 10 mg/L). Analysis revealed that mixtures of the components interacted antagonistically, additively, and synergistically. On a molarity basis the most toxic group of compounds was the surfactants followed by the brighteners. The most toxic individual components included sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, sodium silicate solution, four brighteners, sodium perborate tetrahydrate, and the surfactants. Many of the most toxic components, however, contributed very little to the toxicity of the detergents due to being present in the detergents at low concentrations. The main contributors to the toxicity of detergents were the sodium silicate solution and the surfactants-with the remainder of the components contributing very little to detergent toxicity. The potential for acute aquatic toxic effects due to the release of secondary or tertiary sewage effluents containing the breakdown products of laundry detergents may frequently be low. However, untreated or primary treated effluents containing detergents may pose a problem. Chronic and/or other sublethal effects that were not examined in this study may also pose a problem.

Animals↗

PubMed1996

Laundry performance of subtilisin proteases.

Effective laundry protease performance against susceptible stains depends upon both the enzyme itself and the environment in which it must work. In order to technically design superior laundry proteases, a model for protease's mechanism of action in detergents was developed which has been substantiated through-the-wash. While evaluation of this model and/or a given protease's effectiveness could be judged by a variety of methods, the utility of using visual wash performance comparisons, analytical, and stain characterization studies is described. Finally, data comparing the performance of wild type Subtilisin proteases with mutants designed via the projected model are given, demonstrating possible utility of the system.

Catalysis↗

PubMed1993

Modernization of a laundry processing plant: is it really an improvement?

An ergonomics assessment was conducted in a modern, automated hospital-based laundry to investigate workers' complaints of musculoskeletal aches and pains and general fatigue. Numerous job stressors were identified requiring ergonomic solutions, including prolonged standing, excessive manual handling of transport units, non-adjustability of workstations, work pacing, awkward postures, lack of job rotation and excessive repetition of tasks. Associated health and safety issues such as noise, sharps, equipment maintenance and sanitation were also addressed. Potential mechanisms for repetitive strain injuries were substantiated and solutions for problematic areas were presented to management and the union for implementation. It was concluded that human factors must be taken into consideration when designing automated laundry systems to avoid mismatches resulting in potential injury to workers.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1986

Detection of antibodies to proteases used in laundry detergents by the radioallergosorbent test.

Two proteases, Esperase and Alcalase, derived from Bacillus licheniformis and B. subtilis, respectively, are used in laundry products. In testing for the prevalence of IgE antibodies to these enzymes in sera among 300 laundry product workers, we experienced two problems in the establishment of a reliable RAST for these antigens. The first problem was the propensity of the allergen, Esperase, to undergo autolysis, suggesting that solid-phase Esperase might also lose reactivity through degradation. Treatment of Esperase with phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride stabilized the enzyme and permitted the synthesis of a stable solid-phase antigen. The second problem was the finding that sera reactive with Esperase in the RAST were also reactive with Savinase, an enzyme from B. licheniformis to which the workers were not exposed. Immunochemical analyses of the three enzymes with specific rabbit antisera by gel diffusion and by two-site immunoradiometric assay demonstrated that they were not cross contaminated to any appreciable extent. RAST inhibition demonstrated that solid-phase Esperase possessed unique allergenic determinants in that the reactivity of IgE antibodies was inhibited by low concentrations of Esperase and only by very high concentrations of Alcalase and Savinase. In contrast, the reactivity of solid-phase Alcalase was occasionally inhibited equally well by Esperase and Alcalase. Most strikingly, the reaction of IgE antibodies with solid-phase Savinase was always inhibited by comparable quantities of Esperase, Alcalase, and Savinase. Thus, the establishment of the RAST for these proteases appears to require the use of phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride to retard autolysis, and the results must be interpreted with caution because IgE antibodies in certain sera demonstrate cross-reactivity with Alcalase and Savinase.

Antibodies↗