title: Effect of freezing, hot tumble drying and washing with eucalyptus oil on house dust mites in soft toys.
abstract: Soft toys are a major source of house dust mites (HDM) and HDM allergens, and sleeping with soft toys is a significant risk factor for HDM sensitization. We studied three techniques to eliminate HDM from soft toys, namely freezing, hot tumble drying and washing with eucalyptus oil. Thirty-six toys (12 in each treatment group) were enumerated for live HDM by the heat escape method before and after freezing overnight, hot tumble drying for 1 h and washing in 0.2% to 0.4% eucalyptus oil. Freezing, hot tumble drying and washing with eucalyptus oil resulted in significant reductions in live HDM, an average reduction of 95.1%, 89.1% and 95.1%, respectively. Additionally, washing with eucalyptus oil resulted in a significant reduction in HDM allergens as well from a geometric mean of 9.12 μg/g to 0.37 μg/g (p = 0.033). These three HDM elimination techniques give parents of infants effective and acceptable methods of limiting HDM exposure.
authors.affiliation: Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chin-Fu
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Francis Fu-Sheng
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Chi-Ying
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Crane
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Siebers
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D039741:Antigens, Dermatophagoides / Q000276:immunology; D005052:Eucalyptus; D000078122:Eucalyptus Oil; D005615:Freezing; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D039821:Monoterpenes; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D010988:Play and Playthings; D039981:Pyroglyphidae / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D039741:Antigens, Dermatophagoides; C511306:Eucalyptus terpene oil; D039821:Monoterpenes; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D000078122:Eucalyptus Oil