Exposure to disinfectants during pregnancy may be a risk factor for asthma and eczema in children, a study in Occupational and Environmental Medicine suggests.
The researchers used data on 78,915 mother-child pairs in the Japan Environment and Children’s Study to examine whether mothers’ exposure to disinfectants in the workplace was associated with increased risk of allergic diseases in their children aged three.
The study found an exposure-dependent relationship between prenatal exposure to disinfectants and the odds of children experiencing allergic conditions, with the children of mothers exposed to disinfectants every day having the highest odds of a diagnosis – 26% greater for asthma and 29% greater for eczema than children of mothers who were never exposed to disinfectants.
The authors say the increased use of disinfectants to prevent Covid infections, has increased the public health importance of their findings.
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