The Use of Household Cleaning Sprays and Adult Asthma

Abstract

Rationale: Cleaning work and professional use of certain cleaning products have been associated with asthma, but respiratory effects of nonprofessional home cleaning have rarely been studied. Objectives: To investigate the risk of new-onset asthma in relation to the use of common household cleaners. Methods: Within the follow-up of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey in 10 countries, we identified 3,503 persons doing the cleaning in their homes and who were free of asthma at baseline. Frequency of use of 15 types of cleaning products was obtained in a face-to-face interview at follow-up. We studied the incidence of asthma defined as physician diagnosis and as symptoms or medication usage at follow-up. Associations between asthma and the use of cleaning products were evaluated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards or log-binomial regression analysis. Measurements and Main Results: The use of cleaning sprays at least weekly (42% of participants) was associated with the incidence of asthma symptoms or medication (relative risk [RR], 1.49; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1221.99) and wheeze (RR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.0621.80). The incidence of physician-diagnosed asthma was higher among those using sprays at least 4 days per week (RR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.1523.89). These associations were consistent for subgroups and not modified by atopy. Dose-response relationships (P , 0.05) were apparent for the frequency of use and the number of different sprays. Risks were predominantly found for the commonly used glass-cleaning, furniture, and air-refreshing sprays. Cleaning products not applied in spray form were not associated with asthma. Conclusions: Frequent use of common household cleaning sprays may be an important risk factor for adult asthma.

Work-related respiratory symptoms among health centres cleaners: A cross-sectional study

“…It seems that also the form of a cleaning product comes into prominence in developing allergy-like respiratory symptoms. The incidence of asthma is higher among cleaners who often use sprays [21]. Despite similar components of cleaning products, this trend was not observed among cleaners who usually used liquid chemicals [22].…”

Domestic use of cleaning sprays and asthma activity in females

“…Current domestic exposures (last 12 months) were recorded as in ECRHS [6], based on 24 domestic exposure variables including nine cleaning tasks and 15 cleaning agents (see online supplementary material). Exposure to home cleaning referred to the report of this task at least weekly as in ZOCK et al [6].…”

“…Exposure to home cleaning referred to the report of this task at least weekly as in ZOCK et al [6]. Exposure to sprays was defined by the exposure to any of the eight types of sprays (furniture, glass-cleaning, carpet, mopping the floor, oven, ironing, air-refreshing, other use) at least once a week.…”

“…BELLO et al [4], who studied detailed tasks among hospital cleaners, classified the use of cleaning sprays as high risk for inhalation exposure. The use of cleaning products in spray form, at work and at home, may be an important risk factor for asthma [1,5,6]. One study has reported a dose-response relationship between the frequency of use and number of cleaning sprays used at home and asthma incidence [6].…”

Quality of indoor residential air and health

“…The use of nonaerosol products was not associated with asthma. 55 Plastic compounds Jaakkola and colleagues performed an age-matched case-control study within the Oslo birth cohort that included 3754 children. 56 The clinical diagnosis of bronchial obstruction was more common among children living in homes with polyvinyl chloride than in homes with wood flooring (OR 1.89, 95% CI 1.1-3.1).…”