Young children who grow up in households where their parents frequently use cleaning products are more likely to develop asthma by the age of three years old, a new study has found.
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The study, which examined a group of 2,022 Canadian children aged between three and four months, found that the household products resulted in a higher risk of asthma and childhood wheeze by age three, though not atopy — a condition associated with heightened immune responses to certain allergens.
We’re conditioned to think that scents in the home are a sign of cleanliness, said lead study author Jaclyn Parks, a health sciences graduate student at Simon Fraser University.
“You go into someone’s home, you smell a nice cleaner smell, you’re like, ‘Oh wow, what a nice house.’ But really what you’re smelling is just pollutants in the air,” she said.
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For the study, published Tuesday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, researchers gave parents a questionnaire asking them which kinds of products they used and how often.
Scented spray products, like air fresheners and other aerosols, seemed to be associated with more issues, the study found.
“The actual art of spraying a chemical into your air means that it’s easier to inhale, so you’re having more of that exposure to the lungs,” Parks said.
“It also means that it can settle on dust and other surfaces, so when you go to clean the next day or a week later, you stir up these things from a cleaning event that happened a week ago. And then you’re getting exposed again.”
0:27 Asthmatic children aren’t using inhalers properly
Asthmatic children aren’t using inhalers properly
The researchers aren’t sure why household chemicals seem to have this effect, though Parks theorizes that they either disrupt a child’s microbiome — the mix of bacteria in their bodies — or actually damage their lungs, making the child more susceptible to infection and allergy triggers later in life.
The first year of a child’s life is critical, she said.
“In that first year, they’re still developing their immune system, they’re still developing their respiratory system, and other developmental trajectories for disease health.”
“Asthma is increasingly understood to develop early in life and progress over time, with only a small window in early childhood during which preventive efforts may be beneficial,” wrote Dr. Elissa Abrams, an allergy specialist and assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health at the University of Manitoba, in a linked editorial in the CMAJ.
She noted that manufacturers of household cleaning products are not required to list all ingredients, and that claims that a product is “green” or “environmentally friendly” are largely unregulated.
Parks doesn’t recommend that people stop cleaning their homes, but rather that they think about cleaning them differently.
“The spray one is the bigger one, so things like those plug-in air fresheners, unplug them. Stop using them. Really you’re just covering up things in the home that you could be getting rid of,” she said.
Rather than using spray products, she suggests applying liquid cleaners by using a cloth instead.
“Other things people can do is increase ventilation after cleaning events, so whether it means opening windows, maybe you have an air filter you throw on for an hour or so after you’ve been cleaning,” she said.
“And then just when you’re shopping, look at the ingredients. Use chemical products that have less ingredients in them and that might reduce your exposure.”
The American Lung Association recommends using only cleaning products that don’t have volatile organic compounds, fragrances, irritants or flammable ingredients, and that air fresheners should be avoided altogether, Abrams wrote.
More research is needed to see whether specific combinations of products are more harmful, or whether “green” products are that much better, Parks said.
But based on previous studies on air freshener sprays in the home, “Removal of scented products from the homes of families of children at risk of asthma, or with current asthma symptoms, is likely wise,” Abrams wrote.
Parks agrees.
“The smell of a clean home is no smell at all, is what I say.”
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
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