RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Association of household cleaning agents and disinfectants with asthma in young German adults
JF Occupational and Environmental Medicine
JO Occup Environ Med
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 684
OP 690
DO 10.1136/oemed-2016-104086
VO 74
IS 9
A1 Tobias Weinmann
A1 Jessica Gerlich
A1 Sabine Heinrich
A1 Dennis Nowak
A1 Erika von Mutius
A1 Christian Vogelberg
A1 Jon Genuneit
A1 Stefanie Lanzinger
A1 Saba Al-Khadra
A1 Tina Lohse
A1 Irina Motoc
A1 Viola Walter
A1 Katja Radon
YR 2017
UL http://oem.bmj.com/content/74/9/684.abstract
AB Objectives We scrutinised the association of private use of household sprays and disinfectants with asthma incidence in young adults in the transition from school to working life.Methods Between 2007 and 2009,2051 young adults aged 19–24 years living in two major German cities took part in the Study on Occupational Allergy Risks II. Self-reported exposure to household sprays and disinfectants was characterised according to a composite score for frequency of use as no use (score=0), low use (score between 1 and the median), medium use (score between the median and the 90th percentile) and high use (score above the 90th percentile). Two outcome variables (current asthma and current wheezing) with four mutually exclusive categories (never, incident, persistent and remittent) were used for the risk analyses. Multinomial logistic regression models examined the association between the frequency of using household sprays and disinfectants with asthma and wheezing adjusting for potential confounders.Results Compared with no use, high use of disinfectants was associated with a more than twofold increased odds of incident asthma (OR 2.79, 95% CI 1.14 to 6.83). In addition, low/medium use of disinfectants was associated with remittent asthma (OR 2.39, 95% CI 1.29 to 4.47). The evidence for an association between high usage of household sprays and asthma incidence was weak (OR 2.79, 95% CI 0.84 to 9.20).Conclusion Our results support the hypothesis of an association between the use of cleaning products and elevated risks for asthma and wheezing in young adults at the start of working life.