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.

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.