Cleaning products and flour can increase risk of asthma

Working with cleaning products, flour or enzymes can increase your risk of adult-onset asthma, a new study has shown. Researchers at Imperial College London have found that risks in the workplace are responsible for one in six cases of adult-onset asthma - even more than cases attributed to smoking.

In the study, 18 occupations were clearly linked with asthma risk, four of which were cleaning jobs and a further three of which were likely to involve exposure to cleaning products. Besides cleaning products, flour, enzymes, metals and textiles were among materials in the workplace identified in the study as being linked to asthma risk.

Raising awareness that occupational asthma is an almost entirely preventable disease would be a major step in reducing its incidence, according to Dr Rebecca Ghosh of the National Heart and Lung Institute, who led the study.

“This research has highlighted a new group of people, specifically those working in occupations related to cleaning, such as cleaners or home-based personal care workers, who may have developed adult onset asthma due to exposure to chemicals they work with on a daily basis,” said Malayka Rahman, Research Analysis and Communications Officer at Asthma UK.

“We advise anyone who works in the industries highlighted in this study and who has experienced breathing problems to discuss this with their GP, and we urge healthcare professionals to make sure they consider possible occupational causes in adult onset asthma and tailor their advice to people with asthma accordingly.”

The researchers tracked the occurrence of asthma in a group of 9488 people born in Britain in 1958. Not including those who had asthma as children, 9% developed asthma by age 42.

The study, published in the journal Thorax, was funded by Asthma UK and the Colt Foundation.