American Journal of Industrial Medicine. Vol. 57, Iss. 3, March 2014
Cleaning and asthma characteristics in women
Riassunto
Background We aimed to assess the associations between occupational exposure to cleaning products, a gender-related exposure, and asthma characteristics, considering clinical, immunological and inflammatory aspects.
Methods Analyses were conducted in 391 women (73 with adult-onset asthma) from the follow-up of the Epidemiological Study on the Genetics and Environment of Asthma (EGEA). Occupational exposure to cleaning/disinfecting products was estimated using the asthma-specific job-exposure-matrix (44 women exposed).
Results Occupational exposures were associated with more symptomatic asthma (odds ratio (95% CI): 2.8(1.2–6.4)) and severe asthma (5.1(1.7–15.3)). An association was suggested for poorly controlled asthma (2.2(0.9–5.5)). Associations were observed for asthma without positive skin prick test (3.0(1.1–8.3)), with a low IgE level (2.8(1.2–6.2)), and with a low eosinophil count (3.2(1.5–7.1)).
Conclusions Results strengthen the evidence of a deleterious role of cleaning products in asthma and are consistent with the hypothesis of non-allergic mechanisms in relation to workplace cleaning exposures.