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Join the debate Bleach, paint stripper and carpet cleaners used in the home can cause wheezing and asthma in children, research suggests. A study following 14,000 children since birth found that frequent use of household cleaning products and other chemicals in the home was linked to cases of wheezing among youngsters. Researchers concluded there was a clear connection between children's breathing problems and their mothers' use of a range of common products such as bleach, paint stripper and carpet cleaners. Cleaning products The study found that in the 10 per cent of families who used the chemicals most frequently, the children were twice as likely to suffer wheezing problems as in the families where they were used least. Information involving 7,019 families from the Children Of The 90s project at the University of Bristol was used to investigate respiratory health among young children. Researchers asked pregnant women to report how often they used a list of chemical-based products. The 11 most common were disinfectant, bleach, carpet cleaner, window cleaner, dry cleaning fluid, aerosols, turpentine or white spirit, air fresheners, paint stripper, paint or varnish and pesticides or insecticides. For each family, researchers calculated the total chemical burden according to how frequently they used each product. Researchers then compared this information with each mother's report on whether her child had experienced wheezing with whistling on his or her chest. Persistent wheeze Researchers discovered there was a significant association between the children who suffered persistent wheezing and the mother's use of these chemicals. They concluded that the more frequently the chemicals were used, the higher the risk that the young child would have persistent wheezing. The author of the report, Dr Andrea Sherriff, said: "These findings suggest that children whose mothers made frequent use of chemical-based domestic products during pregnancy were more likely to wheeze persistently throughout early childhood, independent of many other factors. "Further research will identify whether this effect persists into later childhood and will attempt to identify the specific components responsible." She said the exact chemicals involved had not been identified. Dr Sherriff said other studies carried out in Europe and the USA had already demonstrated an increased risk of asthma in people working as cleaners. She said: "It has been put forward that the indoor air environment may play an important role in the increasing asthma problem due to the fact that people, especially mothers with young children, spend so much of day indoors." Prenatal exposure Prof Andrew Peacock of the British Thoracic Society (BTS) said: "This is a welcome study as there has not been enough research into prenatal exposure to chemical agents and its effect on the lung health of our children. "When pregnant, many of the toxins that a woman comes into contact with are passed on to the baby. "This research shows that there is a link between the use of household products such as bleach and aerosols and the development of childhood asthma. "More long-term studies need to be carried out before we advise pregnant women to throw out all their air fresheners and furniture polishes. "But there are measures that can be taken to protect yourself and your baby, such as reducing the number of household products that you use and by wearing gloves and keeping windows open when cleaning." According to the Office for National Statistics, the consumption of household cleaning products has risen dramatically in the UK over the past two decades. Since 1994 expenditure on household cleaning materials has increased by about 60%. The findings were published today in the journal Thorax.
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