Maternal Exposure to Cleaning Products Tied to Offspring Asthma

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 27, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Mothers’ occupational exposure to indoor cleaning agents starting before conception, or around the time of conception and pregnancy, is associated with an increased risk for childhood asthma and wheeze in offspring, according to a study published online Oct. 18 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Gro Tjalvin, M.D., Ph.D., from University of Bergen in Norway, and colleagues investigated the association between childhood asthma and maternal occupational exposure to cleaning products and disinfectants before conception.

Using data from 3,318 mother-offspring pairs, the researchers found that maternal occupational exposure to indoor cleaning products starting preconception and continuing was associated with offspring’s childhood asthma (odds ratio, 1.56), childhood asthma with nasal allergies (odds ratio, 1.77), and childhood wheeze and/or asthma (odds ratio, 1.71). For exposure starting around conception and pregnancy, there was only an association with increased childhood wheeze and/or asthma (odds ratio, 2.25). There were no associations for exposure starting after birth.

“Considering potential implications for vast numbers of women in childbearing age using cleaning agents, and their children, further research is imperative,” the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text