TY - JOUR T1 - Use of household cleaning products, exhaled nitric oxide and lung function in children JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 1415 LP - 1418 DO - 10.1183/09031936.00066313 VL - 42 IS - 5 AU - Lidia Casas AU - Jan-Paul Zock AU - Maties Torrent AU - Raquel García-Esteban AU - Esther Gracia-Lavedan AU - Anne Hyvärinen AU - Jordi Sunyer Y1 - 2013/11/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/42/5/1415.abstract N2 - To the Editor:The application of domestic cleaning agents increases the risk of asthma and respiratory symptoms in adults [1], in particular when products are applied in spray form [2]. Despite the associations observed in adults, the potential effects of passive exposure on children’s respiratory health have not been extensively explored. Analyses of data from birth cohorts have suggested that frequent use of cleaning agents and their use in spray form increased the risk of wheezing and lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) during the first year of life [3, 4] and the risk of persistent wheezing at school age [5, 6]. By contrast, a cross-sectional study reported protective effects of using bleach at home on the prevalence of asthma and allergic sensitisation at school age [7]. Our study investigates the effects of the use of 10 common cleaning products on exhaled nitric oxide fraction (FeNO) and on lung function (forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)) during childhood in a population-based birth cohort in Menorca, Spain [8].Recruitment was performed during pregnancy and 482 children were enrolled at birth. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants and the study was approved by a committee on ethical practice. Questionnaires on wheezing, asthma, treatment and allergies (rhinitis, eczema or hay fever) were administered by the mother repeatedly from birth until the age of 10 years. At the age of 10–13 years, FeNO (NIOX MINO; Aerocrine AB, Solna, Sweden) and forced spirometry (EasyOne; ndd Medical Technologies, Inc., Andover, MA, USA) testing was carried out. In addition, an interviewer-led questionnaire on the frequency of use of 10 different cleaning products (bleach, … ER -