Association between exposure to antimicrobial household products and allergic symptoms

Abstract

Objectives Antimicrobial chemicals are used in a variety of household and personalcare products. Exposure to antimicrobial household products has been hypothesized tolead to allergic diseases in children. Methods We investigated antimicrobial household product exposure and allergic symptomsin Korean children. An antimicrobial exposure (AE) score was derived. To examinethe symptoms of allergic diseases (current wheeze, current rhinitis, and current eczema)in the past 12 months, we used a questionnaire based on the core module of the InternationalStudy of Asthma and Allergies in Children. Complete data for the analysis wereavailable for 25,805 of the 35,590 (72.5%) children. Results The prevalence of current allergic diseases was as follows: wheeze, 5.6%; allergicrhinitis, 32.6%; and eczema, 17.7%. The mean (standard deviation) AE score was14.3 (9.3) (range: 0-40). Compared with subjects with a low AE score (reference), subjectswith a high AE score (fourth quartile) were more likely to have symptoms of wheezingand allergic rhinitis (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] for wheezing 1.24, 95% confidence interval[CI], 1.05-1.45, p for trend=0.24; aOR for allergic rhinitis 1.30, 95% CI, 1.20-1.40,p <0.01). Conclusions These findings suggest that frequent use of antimicrobial household productswas associated with current wheeze and current allergic rhinitis.