For the first time, researchers have examined whether cleaning products also constitute a risk for the coming children of women who are directly exposed in their work. Researcher calls the result striking.

2021.11.02 | Jakob Binderup Christensen

If you are a woman who is planning to have children, and if you work in the cleaning industry, then there is a significantly increased risk that your coming child will develop asthma.

This is the conclusion of a new study carried out by researchers from Aarhus University and Bergen University Hospital.

"The main findings of the study are that children of women who began working in a cleaning job before becoming pregnant, have an increased risk of developing asthma. This is also the case for children of women who began a cleaning job around the time of conception," says Vivi Schlünssen, who is professor at the Department of Public Health at Aarhus University.

Increasing interest

That the use of cleaning products is associated with an increased risk of developing asthma and other respiratory diseases is not news.

However, this is the first time that researchers have examined the risk in a generational perspective, meaning that they can now show that the coming children of women in the cleaning industry have an increased risk of developing asthma.

"In general, there has been increasing interest in what early environmental exposure, including to cleaning products, means for the health of later generations," says Vivi Schlünssen.

"We've carried out this study because there are a lot of women in the age group in question who are exposed to these products on a daily basis."

Fifty per cent increased risk

The study is based on data from more than 3000 women, and the results have just been published in the scientific journal The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

The researchers have divided women into three sub-groups according to when the women began the first job where they were exposed to cleaning products.

"For women who started a cleaning job more than two years before conception, the risk of their children developing asthma is increased by approximately fifty per cent," says Vivi Schlünssen and adds:

"According to our study, in the case of women who have worked with cleaning products around the time of conception, the risk is doubled."

For women who have worked with cleaning products after conception, no increased risk was found among their children, explains the researcher.

Vivi Schlünssen calls the result striking. However, according to the researcher, it is too early to seriously begin ringing the alarm bells.

This is because there is a need for more studies that analyse similar data and reach the same result.

"We're the first to have studied this, and others need to follow. In our field, we usually say that one study is no study. It's a remarkable result, but we must also remain level-headed," says Vivi Schlünssen.

Risk from cleaning at home?

Previous studies have shown that it is in particular cleaning products in aerosol form that may increase the risk of asthma among those who use them.

This is partly due to the increased risk of inhaling the often highly concentrated cleaning product.

According to Vivi Schlünssen, although it is too early to make new guidelines for the use of cleaning products, the study emphasises that it is always a good idea to be cautious when working with cleaning products and disinfectants.

"There are a lot of good reasons why you should inhale as little as possible of cleaning agents. The most important thing is to dose the use of cleaning products and try to avoid spray products," says Vivi Schlünssen.

In the study, the researchers have only examined the risk of developing asthma for children of women who are exposed to cleaning products in connection with their work.

According to Vivi Schlünssen, a next step would be to look into whether the use of cleaning products in the home constitutes a danger.

"We know that the use of cleaning products at home is associated with an increased risk of developing asthma for oneself, but the perspective is also that there may be a risk in a generational perspective. We still need to study this," she says.

The research results - more information

• The study examines the relationship between cleaning work before conception and the risk of coming children developing asthma.
• Thestudy was conducted by a consortium of researchers from seven countries and ten centres headed by Bergen University. The study is titled RHINESSA (Respiratory Health In Northern Europe, Spain and Australia)
• The study is financed by a number of foundations, both private and public, in the seven participating countries
• The study is published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.    

Contact

Vivi Schlünssen, professor at the Department of Public Health, Aarhus University

Phone:  (+45) 28992499

Email: vs@ph.au.dk