ABOUT THE STUDY Starting in the 1990s, an international independent study began tracking a large population of 6,235 women and men with a beginning average age of 34 at 22 health centres in multiple countries. Over the next 20 years, participants were quizzed about their use of both spray and other cleaning products and had their lung capacity tested regularly. Lung capacity was measured by breathing into a spirometer, an instrument that measures how much air you can exhale. Those with compromised lung function are not able to exhale as much volume as someone who is healthy. Of the participants, 53% were women and 44% were lifelong nonsmokers. Analysis was adjusted for smokers and those with doctor-diagnosed asthma. Participant data was extensive, ensuring that each subject was well characterised, significantly reducing the likelihood of misrepresentation. After twenty years of data had been collected, the results were compiled and analysed by a team of 28 international researchers from nine countries, led by scientists at The University of Bergen in Norway. The study was recently published in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
FINDING 1:
Weekly cleaning may be as damaging to lung health as smoking 20 cigarettes per day for 20 years.
By now, just about everyone knows the dangers of smoking cigarettes. Among their many hazards is depleted lung capacity—the result of damage to the tender internal tissues of the respiratory system. Lung capacity is important because it is a marker of overall health and fitness. The body depends on the lungs’ life-giving ability to oxygenate blood and expel carbon dioxide—the waste product of metabolism. Decreased lung capacity can lead to obvious declines in fitness, but since the body is so dependent on oxygen exchange, whole systems of the body can be compromised when the lungs become even partially debilitated. The study concluded that women who used home cleaning products at least once per week saw a similar reduction in lung capacity as those who smoked a pack a day over the same period. According to the authors, “Women cleaning at home or working as occupational cleaners had accelerated decline in lung function, suggesting that exposures related to cleaning activities may constitute a risk to long-term respiratory health.”
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SEPTEMBER 2018 | MELALEUCA.COM
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