ArticlePloS one2015
Respiratory Health in Cleaners in Northern Europe: Is Susceptibility Established in Early Life?
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Vapors, gases, dusts and fumes at work and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease/bronchitis: a systematic review and meta-analyses.Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England) · 2026Article
- Clean with chlorine: peak and short-term occupational exposure to airborne chlorine dioxide during hospital disinfection.Annals of work exposures and health · 2026Article
- Childhood Environmental Exposures and Adult Disease.Pediatric pulmonology · 2026Review
- Social determinants of respiratory health from birth: still of concern in the 21st century?European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2024Review
- Association of Fetal Lung Development Disorders with Adult Diseases: A Comprehensive Review.Journal of personalized medicine · 2024Review
- Occupational inhalation exposure during surface disinfection-exposure assessment based on exposure models compared with measurement data.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2024Article
- Going Down, Dooby Doo Down, Down: Identifying Rapid Spirometry Decline.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2023Article
- Eye and airway symptoms in hospital staff exposed to a product containing hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid, and acetic acid.American journal of industrial medicine · 2023Article
- Too Little, Too Late: Adult Lung Disease Cannot Be Prevented by Interventions in Adult Life.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2023Article
- Prevalence and predictors of occupational asthma among workers in detergent and cleaning products industry and its impact on quality of life in El Asher Men Ramadan, Egypt.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2022Article
- Professional cleaning and risk of asthma - a Danish nationwide register-based study.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2022Article
- Growing, Growing, Gone: The Double Whammy of Early Deprivation and Impaired Evolution of Lung Function.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2021Article
- Challenging the paradigm: moving from umbrella labels to treatable traits in airway disease.Breathe (Sheffield, England) · 2021Review
- E-Cigarettes as a Growing Threat for Children and Adolescents: Position Statement From the European Academy of Paediatrics.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2021Article
- Work-related asthma.Jornal brasileiro de pneumologia : publicacao oficial da Sociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e Tisilogia · 2021Review
- Unfriendly Fire: How the Tobacco Industry is Destroying the Future of Our Children.Acta medica Lituanic · 2021Review
- Observational studies assessing the pharmacological treatment of obstructive lung disease: strengths, challenges and considerations for study design.ERJ open research · 2020Review
- Association of Occupational Exposure to Disinfectants With Incidence of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Among US Female Nurses.JAMA network open · 2019Article
- Assessment of pulmonary function among cleaners in governmental hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; comparative cross-sectional study.BMC research notes · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
21 authors at 10 institutions in 7 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
rationaleThere is some evidence that maternal smoking increases susceptibility to personal smoking's detrimental effects. One might question whether early life disadvantage might influence susceptibility to occupational exposure.
objectivesIn this cross-sectional study we investigated respiratory symptoms, asthma and self-reported chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as related to working as a cleaner in Northern European populations, and whether early life factors influenced susceptibility to occupational cleaning's unhealthy effects.
methodsThe RHINE III questionnaire study assessed occupational cleaning in 13,499 participants. Associations with respiratory symptoms, asthma and self-reported COPD were analysed with multiple logistic regressions, adjusting for sex, age, smoking, educational level, parent´s educational level, BMI and participating centre. Interaction of occupational cleaning with early life disadvantage (maternal smoking, severe respiratory infection <5 years, born during winter months, maternal age at birth >35 years) was investigated. MAIN
resultsAmong 2138 ever-cleaners the risks of wheeze (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.3-1.6), adult-onset asthma (1.5 [1.2-1.8]) and self-reported COPD (1.7 [1.3-2.2]) were increased. The risk increased with years in occupational cleaning (adult-onset asthma: ≤1 year 0.9 [0.7-1.3]; 1-4 years 1.5 [1.1-2.0]; ≥4 years 1.6 [1.2-2.1]). The association of wheeze with cleaning activity ≥4 years was significantly stronger for those with early life disadvantage than in those without (1.8 [1.5-2.3] vs. 1.3 [0.96-1.8]; pinteraction 0.035).
conclusionsOccupational cleaners had increased risk of asthma and self-reported COPD. Respiratory symptom risk was particularly increased in persons with factors suggestive of early life disadvantage. We hypothesize that early life disadvantage may increase airway vulnerability to harmful exposure from cleaning agents later in life.
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Registered trials
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