Indoor pollutants promote the development of asthma in children

Indoor pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds present in most cleaning products, seem to favor the development of asthma in children, confirms an Australian study published in the journal "Thorax".

In the same journal, figure another study suggesting that early childhood exposure to combustion gases, especially from kitchen appliances and heating influences the risk they later develop asthma. These two studies therefore suggest that the increase in asthma in recent thirty years in industrialized countries, may result at least in part, changes in lifestyle, such as the introduction of central heating, air conditioning or furniture fabric.

Since children spend about 80% of their home life, factors of the indoor environment may be involved in the occurrence of asthma.

Dr. Krassi Rumchev of Curtin University of Technology, Perth, and colleagues focused particularly on volatile organic compounds in solvents, adhesives, paints, cleaning products or furniture.

The concentration of these chemicals in the atmosphere can reach values five to ten times higher in homes than outside, but there is no regulation on the inner concentration of these chemicals, although some organizations, including the Medical Research Council in Australia, give indications of the maximum exposure levels for an individual.

The researchers conducted a case-control study with 192 children aged six months to three years. Parents were asked about the health of their children, as well as the environment in which they lived and the measurements were carried out in the living room of their home in summer and winter.

Analysis of the results shows that asthmatic children in an indoor environment where the rate of volatile organic compounds appears significantly higher than in the homes of non-ill children. Most of different volatile organic compounds measured (benzenes, toluenes, xylenes) are significant factors in asthma risk.

These results show that domestic exposure to volatile organic compounds at levels below current recommendations seems to play an important role in the development of asthma in children, the authors conclude.

It is especially important to understand how volatile organic compounds act, some of them are carcinogenic, they point out, worrying about their number and their presence in many products.