TOPLINE:

Persistent weekly use of green cleaning products over a 2-year period was linked to increased incidence of asthma symptoms, with persistent users having an 8% higher risk and those with increased weekly use having a 7% higher risk than nonusers.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers analyzed data for 30,012 participants (mean age, 48.6 years; 74.4% women) from the French NutriNet-Santé cohort to evaluate associations between use of household cleaning products and asthma symptoms from 2018 to 2020.
• Participants were categorized by asthma symptoms as stable asymptomatic or stable symptomatic and further as improved, deteriorated, or incident cases.
• Participants weekly use patterns of green cleaning products and conventional irritants/sprays were classified as no use, decreased use, persistent use, or increased use.
• Researchers used two patient-administered standardized questionnaires to collect information on participants’ respiratory health and the use of conventional and green cleaning products.
• Between 2018 and 2020, 40% of participants reported persistent use and 26% reported increased use of conventional irritants/sprays, whereas 20% reported persistent use and 12% reported increased use of green cleaning products.

TAKEAWAY:

• Compared with no weekly use, persistent use and increased weekly use of green cleaning products were significantly associated with increased asthma symptom scores (mean score ratio [MSR], 1.08; 95% CI, 1.01-1.16 and MSR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.99-1.16, respectively).
• Compared with no weekly use, persistent use of conventional irritants/sprays was associated with increased asthma symptom scores (MSR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.18-1.34) and incidence of asthma symptoms (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.30; 95% CI, 1.16-1.45).
• Among symptomatic participants, persistent use and increased use of conventional irritants/sprays were significantly associated with deterioration of asthma symptoms (aOR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.19-1.85 and aOR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.01-1.64, respectively).

IN PRACTICE:

“Health practitioners should warn patients about both household conventional (irritants and sprays) and ‘green’ cleaning products in order to limit their deleterious impacts on asthma symptoms over time,” the authors of the study wrote.

SOURCE:

Nicole Le Moual, PhD, with Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, Univ. Paris-Sud, Inserm, Équipe d’Épidémiologie Respiratoire Intégrative, Villejuif, France, was the corresponding author of the study, which was published online on September 30 in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice.

LIMITATIONS:

The NutriNet-Santé cohort was not representative of France, as participants of this ongoing study are mostly women with higher education and internet access is required to complete the questionnaires. Exposures were self‑reported, risking the introduction of misclassification bias, and the question on green cleaning products lacked precision as it did not refer to labels or provide examples and relied on participants’ perceptions.

DISCLOSURES:

This study was supported by multiple public institutions including Ministère de la Santé, Santé Publique France, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, and Institut national de recherche pour l’agriculture, l’alimentation et l’environnement. The authors reported having no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.