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From: rpautrey2 on 8 Aug 2008 14:24

Study Reveals Use of Cleaning Products During Pregnancy Increases Risk
of Asthma in Young Children
August 06, 2008

Brunel University researcher suggests that chemicals in household
cleaning products explains why excessive hygiene is linked to
increased asthma and allergies.


Women who use a lot of household cleaning products when they are
pregnant, or shortly after giving birth, are increasing their child’s
risk of developing asthma. That’s according to the Avon Longitudinal
Study of Parents of Children (ALSPAC, also known as Children of the
Nineties), that recruited over 13,000 children from before birth and
has followed them to post 16.

The findings indicated that early life exposure to the chemicals
contained in household cleaning products was linked to a 41% increase
in a child’s chances of developing asthma by the age of 7 years.
During the study, a large number of other factors known to affect the
onset of asthma, such as family history, were accounted for.

The results thus present a possible mechanism for the ‘hygiene
hypothesis’, which suggests that children brought up with low exposure
to bacteria and dust in the home in their early years are less likely
to build an immunity to asthma later in life.

Dr. Alexandra Farrow, Reader at Brunel University’s School of Health
Sciences and Social Care and a member of the ALSPAC research team,
explains: “Previous research has shown that a child’s risk of
developing asthma is lower if he or she is exposed to bacteria or
bacterial products (endotoxins) in early life (‘hygiene hypothesis’),
probably because it assists in the development of a child’s immune
system.

However, our research suggests that one possible mechanism for this
hypothesis may involve the chemicals found in domestic cleaning
products. These chemicals have been linked to increased risk of asthma
with additional evidence from studies of workers who have exposure to
cleaning chemicals”.

Source: Brunel University






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