A major health study has delivered a startling warning to women who clean their homes or work as professional cleaners, revealing that regular exposure to cleaning chemicals can cause severe long-term damage to lung function.
The Shocking Comparison to Smoking
Researchers from the University of Bergen in Norway conducted a comprehensive study spanning more than two decades, analysing data from 6,235 participants. The findings revealed that the effect of 10 to 20 years of regular cleaning on lung function was comparable to smoking a pack of cigarettes every day for the same period.
Senior study author Cecile Svane, a professor at the university's Centre for International Health, explained the concern behind the research: "While the short-term effects of cleaning chemicals on asthma are becoming increasingly well documented, we lack knowledge of the long-term impact."
She added: "We feared that such chemicals, by steadily causing a little damage to the airways day after day, year after year, might accelerate the rate of lung function decline that occurs with age."
Detailed Findings on Lung Function Decline
The research team meticulously tracked participants, whose average age was 34 when they enrolled, for over 20 years. They measured two key indicators of lung health: forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC).
The results showed a significantly faster decline in these measures among women who cleaned regularly. Compared to women not engaged in cleaning, FEV1 declined 3.6 millilitres per year faster in women who cleaned at home and 3.9 ml/year faster in women working as cleaners.
Even more concerning was the decline in FVC, which measures the total amount of air a person can forcibly exhale. This declined 4.3 ml/year faster in women who cleaned at home and a substantial 7.1 ml/year faster in women who worked as cleaners.
Understanding the Risk and Finding Solutions
The authors theorised that this decline in lung function stems from the irritation that most cleaning chemicals cause to the mucous membranes lining the airways. Lead study author Øistein Svanes commented on the surprising level of impairment: "However, when you think of inhaling small particles from cleaning agents that are meant for cleaning the floor and not your lungs, maybe it is not so surprising after all."
The study also found that asthma was more prevalent in women who cleaned - affecting 12.3% of those cleaning at home and 13.7% of professional cleaners, compared to just 9.6% of women who did not clean.
Interestingly, the research did not find the same effect in men who cleaned, though researchers noted the number of male professional cleaners in the study was small and their exposure likely differed from female cleaners.
Svanes offered a clear solution: "The take home message of this study is that in the long run cleaning chemicals very likely cause rather substantial damage to your lungs. These chemicals are usually unnecessary; microfibre cloths and water are more than enough for most purposes."
He concluded by calling for action from public health officials to strictly regulate cleaning products and encourage manufacturers to develop cleaning agents that cannot be inhaled.
