Regular cleaning would be equivalent to smoking 20 packets of cigarettes a year

Women who routinely use cleansing products suffer a loss of respiratory function comparable to that of a smoker, even decades later, according to a recent Norwegian study published in American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine . These new results thus compare pulmonary damage to that caused by consumption of 10 to 20 packets of cigarettes a year .

It was " already known that household chores can expose to chemical agents with potential adverse effects on the respiratory system ", explain the study authors, according to which" increased risk of asthma and respiratory symptoms in professional cleaners and home cleaners ] "is" reasonably well documented ". On the other hand, long-term effects were not yet well known. " We were concerned that such chemicals, by regularly causing airway damage day after day, year after year, could accelerate the rate of decline in lung function that occurs with age ", explains in a statement Professor Cecile Svanes, professor at the Center for International Health at the University of Bergen and co-author of the study. Researchers at the University of Bergen in Norway therefore badyzed data from the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS). This European survey examined the respiratory function of 6,235 people between the ages of 20 and 40 between 1992 and 2012. The participants, whose average age was 34 at the time of their inclusion, were therefore followed for more than 20 years.

20 years of household would be equivalent to 20 packets of cigarettes smoked per year

One of the criteria observed was the maximum amount of air expired in one second, also called FEV1. FEV1 of women who cleaned decreased by 22 milliliters per year, compared to 18.6 milliliters per year for women who did not clean. This difference was even more marked when the household corresponded to a professional activity. Another criterion is the total amount of air that a person forcibly expires, also called Total Forced Capacity (FVC). The use of cleaning products almost doubled the decrease in FVC, with 13.2 (cleaning at home) to 14.4 (professional cleaning) milliliters of lost per year, against 7.9 milliliters for a woman who does not clean not. This accelerated decline in lung function, mainly among cleaning professionals, was " comparable to smoking by just under 20 pack-years ," according to the authors, evening about one cigarette a day . Asthma was also more common among women who cleaned at home (12.3%) or at work (13.7%) than those who did not clean (9.6%).

D first surprised by these results, the first author of the Øistein Svanes study finally concluded that " when you inhale small particles from cleaning agents intended to clean the soil and not your lungs, maybe it's not so surprising after all ". The authors badume that the decrease in lung function is due to the irritation caused by most cleaning chemicals on the mucous membranes lining the airways, leading to persistent changes and remodeling.

No effects observed in men

And men, then? And no difference was found between those who did the housework and the others. For the authors, several explanations. First, there were only 57 men in the study, compared with 293 women, a number that was insufficient to draw conclusions. They were also less likely than women to report cleaning at home, with only 46% of the 2,932 men in the study reporting housework at home, compared to 85% of 3,298 women. A sufficient number this time to make a statistical badysis, but the results could be distorted by the risks incurred on the other hand by men outside the household activity. Thus, it is possible, according to the authors, that men who cleanse have been compared to men who are exposed to harmful substances by their professional activity, thus minimizing the impact of household products. Third hypothesis, women could have a more sensitive constitution to these products, " as reported for (…) tobacco smoke and (…) wood dust, for which studies have shown that an exposure less in women is enough to develop a disease ", explain the researchers.