Researchers Identify Association between Risk of Childhood Asthma and Use of Cleaning Products

Millions around the world suffers through asthma. Its prevalence is at increase especially among children.

Asthma is a chronic respiratory condition which occurs due to inflammation and narrowing of air ways. Normally as we inhale, air moves through the trachea or the wind pipe, then through large tubes called bronchi; smaller tubes called bronchioles and finally into tiny air sacs called alveoli.  Alveoli are surrounded by small blood vessels called capillaries. Exchange of gases takes place here i.e. oxygen from air passes into blood flowing through the capillaries and carbon dioxide excreted from the body cells, passes out of the capillaries into the alveoli so that the body can get rid of it as we exhale.

Asthma occurs when the lining of the airways swells due to inflammation and muscles around them tighten. There is also excess production of mucus and this makes breathing difficult.

Some of the common symptoms are coughing especially at night or during exercise, shortness of breath, chest tightness or pain, fatigue, wheezing or whistling sound when exhale etc.

It affects people of all ages, and often starts in the childhood, though it can also develop in adults. The exact cause is unknown but probably it is caused by environmental and genetic or inherited factors.

Asthma may occur randomly or after exposure to a trigger. Some of the common triggers include smoke, pollution, cold air, exercise, infections (cold or flu), allergies to house dust mites, animal fur, pollen etc.

There is currently no cure for asthma but the symptoms can usually be controlled with treatments available. Identifying and avoiding asthma triggers can also help keep symptoms under control.

Asthmatics can face problems such as feeling tired all the time, stress, anxiety or depression, disruption of work or under performance at work place, lung infections (pneumonia), delay in growth or puberty in children etc.

It is important to follow the treatment plans advised by health expert to avoid risk of severe asthma attack which could be life threatening. 

Recently a group of scientists conducted studies to describe an association between the use of household cleaning products in early life and risk of childhood asthma at age three years.

To conduct the studies the researchers used data from 2,022 children who were participants of CHILD (Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development) cohort study.

[Cohort studies are a type of medical research used to investigate causes of the disease and to establish links between risk factors and health outcomes.]

During the research scientists examined participants’ daily, weekly and monthly exposure to 26 types of household cleaners, which included laundry and dish washing detergents, disinfectants, polishes, cleaners and air fresheners.

The researchers comment that their study looked at infants who typically spend 80-90% of their time indoors, and are especially vulnerable to chemical exposures through lungs and skin due to their higher respiration rates and also due to coming into regular contact with household surfaces.

Through the studies researchers found that children at three years of age who were living in homes where cleaning products were more frequently used during their infancy (birth to three months of age or first three months of life) were more likely to develop; recurrent wheeze (10.8% when compared to 7.7% of infants who lived in homes with low use of cleaning products), recurrent wheeze  with atopy which refers to genetic tendency to develop allergic diseases (3.0% when compared to 1.5% of infants living in homes with low use of cleaning products), asthma (7.9% when compared to 4.8% of infants living in homes with low use of cleaning products).

Some other factors such as early life exposure to tobacco smoke and family history, which are known to affect onset of asthma were also considered to conduct the analysis. Furthermore, scientists did not find association between use of cleaning products and atopy alone through these studies.

Researchers suggest that proposed mechanisms underlying these findings are that the cells that line the respiratory tract get damaged by exposure to these chemicals.

Interestingly, they also found that the relationship between respiratory problems and product exposure was much stronger in girls than in boys at age three. In order to develop a better understanding of male versus female biological responses to inflammatory exposures in early life researchers demands more studies.

Scientists concluded that the studies have shown that, first few months of life are critical for the development of a baby’s immune and respiratory systems and they have advised that preventive measures can be taken to potentially reduce childhood asthma and subsequent allergy risks by identifying hazardous exposures during infancy.

They further comment that it may be important for people to consider removing scented spray cleaning products from their cleaning routine as the risk of recurrent wheeze and asthma were notably higher in homes with frequent use of certain products such as liquid or solid air fresheners, plug-in deodorizers, dusting sprays, anti-microbial sanitizers and oven cleaners.

REFERENCE:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200218182154.htm

https://www.cmaj.ca/content/192/7/E154