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Chemicals can make asthma worse
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BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Many people with asthma thought they were at least safe indoors.
That may not be the case.
A new report released Tuesday shows mounting evidence that chemicals common in many household cleaning products can lead to a rise in health problems, specifically with respect to asthma and reproductive health.
Exposure to the chemicals increases the prevalence of asthma, and exacerbates asthma symptoms and respiratory ailments, according to the report by Women’s Voices for the Earth, a national health advocacy group.
“My recommendation would be knowing what your triggers are,” said Valerie Nozea, a respiratory therapist with the American Lung Association of Maryland, speaking about asthma in general. “Once you’ve identified them, it’s important not to use them,”
Individuals cannot “not use” the substances that may worsen their symptoms — their triggers — without knowing what is in the cleaning products.
Women’s Voices for the Earth sent letters to 23 manufacturers of household cleaning products, including Proctor & Gamble and S.C. Johnson, requesting full disclosure of chemicals in all cleaning products.
None of the companies responded with information about the potentially harmful ingredients on their product labels.
The findings are particularly important for women because they continue to do more than 70 percent of the housework. Children, too, are at risk, especially infants and toddlers. They frequently crawl on the ground and put their hands in their mouths, transferring the chemicals into their bodies.
The study also suggested pregnant women take precautions to avoid strong chemicals in the home. Certain chemicals have been associated with reproductive harm such as “alterations in sexual behavior, decreases in fertility, menstrual changes, changes in the onset of puberty, miscarriage, premature birth and other effects.”
“The more time women spend at home, the higher their exposure to potentially hazardous cleaning chemicals,” the study states.
A staff scientist at the Women’s Voices for the Earth health group drew information from more than 75 scientific studies for the report.
aparchman@baltimoreexaminer.com
