International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health
Association between indoor renovation activities and eczema in early childhood
Introduction
Besides a genetic predisposition and the controversially discussed hygiene hypothesis (Strachan, 1989, Strachan, 2000), other factors influence the development of allergies in early childhood: food, pollens, etc., and as lately described also indoor chemical pollutants, particularly volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (Herbarth and Rehwagen, 1998; Wolkoff and Nielsen, 2001). Important VOC sources are, e.g., smoking and emissions from building materials and furnishings (Samet et al., 1987, Samet et al., 1988; Cooke 1991). During and following home renovation activities, e.g., painting and/or floor covering, indoor exposure levels can be high. These exposure situations have been found to affect inflammatory processes as well as allergic disorders (Harving et al., 1991; Koren et al., 1992; Ware et al., 1993; Norback et al., 1995; Wieslander et al., 1997; Diez et al., 2000). Moreover, it remains largely unclear whether a time window exists within which the organism may be especially sensitive to these specific environmental influences. Several studies have investigated the existence of a time period and whether varying factors of influence early in a child's life does lead to an increased incidence of sensitization later in life, including whether prenatal exposure via the mother may have an impact on the offspring. Until now these investigations have been restricted to environmental factors which are able to cause allergies directly above all to allergen exposure (Warner, 1999; Warner and Warner, 2000; Warner et al., 2000). The effect of possibly indirectly affecting factors—trigger factors—is to a great extent unknown except for smoking. First attempts to clear up the role of indoor chemicals is given by Diez et al. (2000) but restricted to risk groups.
The present study is intended not only to contribute to the debate of the extent of chemical noxes being involved in triggering allergen-induced processes but also address the question of timing by examining the influences of pre- and postnatal exposure due to renovation activities.
Section snippets
Study population
The presented investigation is based on the data of an epidemiologic cross-sectional study (LISS study—Leipzig infection, allergy and airway diseases study among school starters). The LISS study was carried out during the fall and winter 1997–1998 (birth cohort 1991/92) and included all children of the City of Leipzig and its surrounding county () eligible to enter first grade in the fall of 1998 (Table 1). Participation was on a voluntary basis, requiring an informed written consent by
Results
At time of investigation (mean age of children 6.3±0.6 years) (Table 1), lifetime prevalences were 16.9% for eczema and 12.7% for allergic symptom manifestation. They are shown in Table 2 together with the frequencies of pertinent study parameters.
The control group has been selected considering all families who have not carried out any redecoration activities neither around birth nor afterwards in later life time. This concerns 537 study participants (21.2% of the study population). Table 3
Discussion
This study suggests an influence of residential renovation on allergic disorders. The chemical indoor exposure levels seem to play an important role because of the frequency of renovations which were carried out in the investigated households. Of all parents in this study 78.8% had redecorated their apartment before birth or in early life of the children, 36.9% had carried out all three activities (painting, floor covering and new furniture) (Table 3), 28.5% of them before birth and in the
Acknowledgements and grant information
The study was supported by the BMBF—Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany, the UFZ—Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle and the State Ministry of Family and Health of Saxony.
The authors wish to thank the children and their parents as well as the staff of the local public health departments for their excellent cooperation in carrying out the field study. We are also indebted to our co-workers of the LISS study team for the field work in the schools.
References (26)
- et al.
Effects of indoor painting and smoking on airway symptoms in atopy risk children in the first year of life: results of the LARS-study. Leipzig allergy high-risk children study
Int. J. Hyg. Environ. Health
(2000) - et al.
Pulmonary function and urban air pollution in preschool children
Int. J. Hyg. Environ. Health
(2001) - et al.
Asthmatic disease among urban preschoolers: an observational study
Int. J. Hyg. Environ. Health
(2004) - et al.
Helicobacter pylori prevalence in Leipzig's 1998 school entries: methodology and first results
Int. J. Hyg. Environ. Health
(2000) - et al.
Childhood antecedents of allergic sensitization in young British adults
J. Allergy Clin. Immunol.
(1997) Primary sensitization in infants
Ann. Allergy Asthma Immunol.
(1999)- et al.
Organic compounds in indoor air—their relevance for perceived indoor air quality
Atmos. Environ.
(2001) - et al.
Atopic dermatitis in early infancy predicts allergic airway disease at 5 years
Clin. Exp. Allergy
(1998) Indoor air pollutants. A literature review
Rev. Environ. Health
(1991)- et al.
Lung function and bronchial reactivity in asthmatics during exposure to volatile organic compounds
Am. Rev. Respir. Dis.
(1991)
VOCs—investigation into outdoor and indoor exposure: initial results
Umweltmed. Forsch. Prax.
Effect of volatile organic compounds in- and outdoors on allergies
Epidemiologic risk analysis of environmental attributed exposure on airway diseases and allergies in children
Cent. Eur. J. Public Health
Cited by (76)
Prenatal and perinatal home environment and reported onset of wheeze, rhinitis and eczema symptoms in preschool children in Northern China
2021, Science of the Total EnvironmentOnset and remission of eczema at pre-school age in relation to prenatal and postnatal air pollution and home environment across China
2021, Science of the Total EnvironmentPreconceptional and perinatal exposure to traffic-related air pollution and eczema in preschool children
2017, Journal of Dermatological ScienceEnvironmental conditions in homes with healthy and unhealthy schoolchildren in Beijing, China
2017, Building and Environment