Alert over link between cleaning sprays and asthma

A HEALTH expert issued a new warning yesterday over the link between cleaning sprays and asthma.

Chlorine, bleach, disinfectants and other cleaning agents are fuelling a rise in asthma at home and at work, he said.

Jan-Paul Zock pointed to growing evidence that cleaning products can spark asthma and makeexisting symptoms worse.

Professional cleaners and health workers who use products in hospitals are particularly vulnerable, he added.

Addressing a European allergy conference in London, Dr Zock said studies had already found higher rates of asthma among caretakers, cleaners, housekeepers and nurses.

Breathing in bleach, ammonia, decalcifiers, acids, solvents and stain removers more than once a week was linked to a 20% rise in asthma or wheezing, Dr Zock said.

People who use cleaning products frequently are most at risk, as are those who use them for long periods.

How strong a product is, together with how well a room is ventilated, alsoaffects the risk.

Dr Zock said morestudies were needed on people’s exposure at home, which can be difficult to track.

However, he said, many people at home could be at risk.

“The number of people at risk is very large,” said Dr Zock, from the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona.

He added that some people were more susceptible to the effects than others.

“Not only those who have cleaning jobs or whose work involves cleaning are at risk, but we also need to consider the ubiquitous use of cleaning products at home.

“Our research shows that cleaning-related asthma is an important public health issue and it is potentially preventable.”

Other research presented at yesterday’s conference – of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology – suggests it may be possible to prevent asthma in high-risk babies by avoiding certain foods and dust mites in the first few months of life.

Experts from the David Hide Asthma and Allergy Research Centre on the Isle of Wight have monitored 120 children since 1990.

All were at high-risk, having two or more family members with an allergy.

In the study, babies up to one avoided dairy products, soya and nuts, as did their breastfeeding mothers.

The 58 babies slept on vinyl mattresses and covers, and the mite-control spray acracide was used to reduce the level of house dust mites.

Another group of 62 babies and their mothers did not make changes to their diet or bedding, and acted as a control group.

Dr Martha Scott, who led the study, said children had less allergic reactions aged one, two, four and eight.

Furthermore, aged 18, there was significantly less asthma in the diet and bedding group than in the control group.

She said: “While this study is small it does suggest that it is possible to prevent the onset of asthma in high-risk individuals by instituting a strict regime that avoids some of the common triggers for asthma in the first year of life.

“We have shown that the beneficial effect lasts for many years.”