The use of household cleaning sprays and adult asthma: an international longitudinal study.
BACKGROUND
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.


OBJECTIVE
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.


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], 1.12-1.99) and wheeze (RR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.06-1.80). The incidence of physician-diagnosed asthma was higher among those using sprays at least 4 days per week (RR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.15-3.89). 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.
Zock
Jan-Paul
JP
CREAL/IMIM, Dr. Aiguader 88, E-08003 Barcelona, Spain. jpzock@imim.es
Plana
Estel
E
Jarvis
Deborah
D
Antó
Josep M
JM
Kromhout
Hans
H
Kennedy
Susan M
SM
Künzli
Nino
N
Villani
Simona
S
Olivieri
Mario
M
Torén
Kjell
K
Radon
Katja
K
Sunyer
Jordi
J
Dahlman-Hoglund
Anna
A
Norbäck
Dan
D
Kogevinas
Manolis
M
D000328:Adult; D000336:Aerosols; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D003902:Detergents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004202:Disinfectants / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012135:Respiratory Sounds; D012997:Solvents / Q000009:adverse effects*
D000336:Aerosols; D003902:Detergents; D004202:Disinfectants; D012997:Solvents