Risk of adverse health events associated with long-term exposure of human hands to ozonated water

Abstract

Ozonated water is a potential alternative approach for hand antisepsis. While short-term studies report no immediate adverse effects to human skin or health, there are no published studies of long-term exposure. A retrospective cross-sectional mixed methods study was used to investigate the risk of adverse clinical health effects from chronic intermittent ozonated water exposure at 0.6 µg/ml in the United States. Thirty subjects with long-term use of a kitchen sink faucet that produced ozonated water on command provided quantitative measures of exposure and the prevalence of related adverse skin, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, and other health consequences. Participants averaged 91.6 (range 4–420) minutes of exposure per week over an average of 143.4 (range 30.4–460.4) weeks of exposure. Ozonated water was used for a variety of tasks, including hand hygiene, rinsing of produce and utensils, and family food preparation. Subjects indicated on a variety of measures that there were no individual or family health effects, including but not limited to skin irritation and thickening, respiratory, and gastrointestinal symptoms. In this study, chronic recurrent exposure to ozonated water had no reported adverse health consequences after nearly 3 years of daily exposure.