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

Objectives: We aimed at analysing the association of occupational disinfectants use with asthma and wheezing in early-career professionals. Methods: Three hundred and fifty-six participants from the German Study on Occupational Allergy Risks (SOLAR) II (2007-2009, overall response: 70.6%) aged 20 to 24 years and working in cleaning or health services answered a questionnaire on respiratory health (doctor’s diagnosis of asthma and current symptoms of asthma and wheezing or asthma medication), occupational exposure to disinfectants, and potential confounders such as sociodemographic, lifestyle, and additional occupational factors. Logistic regression models evaluated the association between duration of occupational exposure to disinfectants (no exposure, exposure for up to 12 months, exposure for more than 12 months) with the three outcome variables doctor-diagnosed asthma, current asthma, and current wheezing. Results: After adjustment for potential confounders, individuals occupationally exposed to disinfectants for more than twelve months had almost three times the odds of doctor-diagnosed asthma compared to those not exposed (OR: 2.86, 95% CI: 1.18-6.90). The evidence for an association between occupational exposure to disinfectants for up to twelve months and current asthma was slightly weaker (OR: 2.78, 95% CI: 0.93-8.32), while for current wheezing we observed no evidence for an association. Conclusions: Our results provide some further evidence for an association between occupational exposure to disinfectants and asthma, indicating that this can be seen after a relatively short period of exposure.