Association Between Occupational Exposure to Disinfectants and Asthma in Young Adults Working in Cleaning or Health Services Results From a Cross-Sectional Analysis in Germany

Weinmann, Tobias ; Forster, Felix ; Mutius, Erika von; Vogelberg, Christian; Genuneit, Jon; Windstetter, Doris; Nowak, Dennis ; Radon, Katja and Gerlich, Jessica (2019): Association Between Occupational Exposure to Disinfectants and Asthma in Young Adults Working in Cleaning or Health Services Results From a Cross-Sectional Analysis in Germany. In: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Vol. 61, No. 9: pp. 754-759

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the association of occupational disinfectants use with asthma and wheezing in young professionals. Methods: Three hundred sixty-five participants from the German Study on Occupational Allergy Risks II aged 20 to 24 years and working in cleaning or health services answered a questionnaire on respiratory health, occupational exposure to disinfectants, and potential confounders. By logistic regression, we calculated the association between duration of occupational disinfectants exposure and doctor-diagnosed asthma, current asthma, and current wheezing. Results: Individuals exposed to disinfectants for more than 12 months had almost three times the odds of doctor-diagnosed asthma compared with those not exposed (odds ratio [OR]: 2.99, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.36-6.55). Conclusions: Our findings provide some further evidence for an association between occupational exposure to disinfectants and asthma, indicating that this association can be seen already after the first year of exposure.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Medicine > Institute and Polyclinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine; Medicine > Medical Center of the University of Munich > Pediatric Clinic and Outpatient Clinic in the Dr. von Hauner Children‘s Hospital
• Research Centers: Center for International Health (CIH)
• Subjects: 600 Technology > 610 Medicine and health
• ISSN: 1076-2752
• Language: English