Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 22nd May 2025 Issue no. 1163
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Unseen danger in healthcare: landmark study, supported by Splashblocker, receives top award
Splashblocker’s groundbreaking research study: ‘Reducing the particles generated by flushing institutional toilets. Part II: Assessing a portable and reusable toilet cover in US hospitals’, which evaluated the effectiveness of the Splashblocker device, has been awarded the esteemed 2024 James D'Arcy JOEH Research Article Award.
The Journal of Occupational & Environmental Hygiene (JOEH), a flagship publication of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) in partnership with the Michigan Industrial Hygienist Society (MIHS) - a valued member of AIHA's community, recognises the best paper published in the journal in 2024.
The winning article was selected by a panel of six expert judges from all published research in JOEH that year.
The landmark study revealed the Splashblocker's powerful ability to block harmful toilet plume aerosols (TPA) by 99.98% in hospitals. This significant reduction remained consistent regardless of toilet type or hospital setting.
Toilet plume aerosols have been identified as a potential route for the transmission of infectious pathogens and hazardous drugs, posing a risk to healthcare workers, patients and their loved ones. The Splashblocker is an engineering barrier control, directly addressing this concern.
"We are incredibly proud that the rigorous scientific research supporting the Splashblocker has been recognised with this distinguished national award," says Brian P Crawford, CEO & co-founder, Splashblocker. "This accolade underscores the importance of our product in improving safety within healthcare environments and reinforces our commitment to providing effective solutions that mitigate the risks associated with toilet plume aerosols.
“The study's remarkable findings highlight the Splashblocker's significant impact on reducing airborne particles, creating a safer environment."
Seth Eisenberg, lead author of the study, comments:
"Receiving the James D'Arcy JOEH Research Article Award is a tremendous honour and validates the importance of this research. We believe these findings provide crucial evidence supporting the use of the Splashblocker to enhance safety in healthcare settings."
Dr. Changjie Cai, corresponding author of the study, adds:
"This award highlights the significance of our findings and the potential for the Splashblocker to make a real difference in reducing exposure risks associated with toilet plume aerosols."
Splashblocker congratulates Seth Eisenberg and Dr Changjie Cai on this significant achievement, saying it deeply appreciates the invaluable contributions of the 17 dedicated clinicians from the 15 participating hospitals across the US. Their commitment to patient and healthcare worker safety, and their drive to advance meaningful science, were instrumental in the study's success and in demonstrating the real-world impact of the Splashblocker.
The Splashblocker is a portable, reusable toilet cover that significantly reduces toilet plume aerosols, thereby improving safety in healthcare and home environments.
About the study:
Flushing uncovered toilets in hospitals has been shown to produce toilet plume aerosols (TPA) in a wide size ranging from nanometers to micrometers. Studies have shown that TPA can carry infectious pathogens and hazardous drugs used in cancer treatment. To mitigate the risk of exposure, some researchers have recommended covering the toilet during flushing, and guidelines from the Oncology Nursing Society have specifically recommended covering the toilet when flushing excreta from patients receiving chemotherapy.
Because existing literature primarily focused on controlled laboratory settings or small case studies, there has been a need for a real-world, multi-centre study in clinical settings to measure TPA by flushing both covered and uncovered toilets.
To address this gap, the authors initiated a multicentre study to measure TPA in clinical settings and to assess the effectiveness of a commercially available, portable, and reusable toilet cover. The study enrolled 15 hospital centres (145 toilets) in nine US states which included seven National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer centres.
The particle number concentrations were measured using a TSI optical particle counter (TSI 9306) with six size bins (0.3 to 25.0µm) positioned 22 inches above the floor. The results showed that the ambient particle number concentrations in the HEPA-filtered floor bathrooms (376±857#/L) are significantly lower than the non-HEPA-filtered ones (7,432±9,207#/L). The mean particle number concentrations generated by flushing are 3,951±8,606#/L with a median of 1,916#/L, ranging from 136#/L to 71,959#/L.
Results with cover demonstrated a reduction in the total number of particles of 101±11% regardless of the HEPA filter usage (p=0.0002 in the Mann-Whitney U test). Mixed-effects modelling revealed that the overall level of particle reduction is substantial regardless of state (nine total), floor levels, flush volumes and inpatient versus outpatient. This study provides evidence supporting the use of the tested portable toilet cover as an intervention to reduce healthcare workers', patients', and visitors' exposure to toilet plume aerosols in clinical settings.
This research, led by Seth Eisenberg, OCN, BMTCN, formerly at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, and corresponding author Dr Changjie Cai of the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Hudson College of Public Health, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, will be recognised during an Award presentation at next month’s AIHA annual conference.
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24th April 2025