PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Wan-ryung Lim
AU  - Soyoung Hong
AU  - Hojang Kwon
AU  - Won-Jun Choi
AU  - Hyunjung Kim
AU  - Chaebong Kim
AU  - Jeonghoon Kim
AU  - HeaSuk Yang
AU  - KyooSang Kim
TI  - Association between antimicrobial household products exposure and allergic symptoms in Korean children
DP  - 2013 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - 5012
VI  - 42
IP  - Suppl 57
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/42/Suppl_57/5012.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/42/Suppl_57/5012.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2013 Sep 01; 42
AB  - Antimicrobial chemicals are used in variety of household and personal care products. Exposure to antimicrobial chemicals has been hypothesized to lead to allergic diseases. We investigated antimicrobial household product exposure and allergic diseases in Korean children.A total of 35,590 children in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, participated in this cross-sectional study. An antimicrobial exposure (AE) score was derived (0 for not at all, 1 for less than once per week, 2 for approximately once per week, 3 for most days, and 4 for every day). To examine the symptoms of allergic diseases (current wheeze, current rhinitis, and current eczema) in the past 12 months, a questionnaire based on the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Children (ISAAC) core module was used. Complete data for the analysis were available for 25,805 of the 35,590 (72.5%) children.The prevalence of current allergic diseases was as follows: wheeze in 5.6%, allergic rhinitis in 32.6%, and eczema in 17.7%. The mean (standard deviation [SD]) AE score was 14.3 (9.3) (range: 0-40). Compared with subjects with a low AE score (reference), subjects with a high AE score (fourth quartile) were more likely to have symptoms of wheezing and allergic rhinitis (adjusted odds ratio (OR) for wheezing 1.24, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.05-1.45, p for trend = 0.24; adjusted OR for allergic rhinitis 1.30, 95% CI 1.20-1.40, p < 0.01). Following the adjustment, the association of current eczema symptoms with the AE score disappeared. These findings suggest that the frequent use of antimicrobial household products was associated with current wheeze and current allergic rhinitis.