Brushing damages the lungs

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

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Cleaning agents often contain aggressive substances. But what dissolves lime and greasy dirt is also not good for the lung tissue. Those who clean regularly have, after years of diligent scrubbing, a significantly poorer lung function than those who don't like cleaning. But that applies primarily to the sex that does most of the cleaning work: women.

The deterioration in lung function is comparable to that of people who smoke a packet of cigarettes every day, write researchers working with Cecilie Svanes from the University of Bergen.

It has long been known that cleaning sprays, for example, increase the risk of developing asthma and trigger respiratory distress attacks in people with lung disease. But what about cleaning agents that you put in the mopping water?

Small damages add up

“Such chemicals can also cause minor damage to the airways, day after day and year after year. In the long run, this could accelerate the age-related decline in lung function, ”says study director Cecilie Svanes.

As part of their “Respiratory Health Study”, researchers followed 6,230 people over a period of 20 years. The participants were 34 years old at the start of the study. 85 percent of women cleaned regularly, privately or professionally. There were significantly fewer of the men, namely 55 percent.

Lung test shows increasingly dwindling lung function

The participants regularly underwent two lung function tests: On the one hand, the researchers measured the one-second capacity of the lungs, FEV1 (Forces expiratory volume in one second). This measures the maximum amount of air a person can exhale within one second.

This decreased by an additional 3.6 milliliters annually for women who cleaned at home compared to women who did not clean. Women who worked as cleaners lost 3.9 milliliters of exhaled volume annually.

The FVC (Forced Vital Capacity) measures the maximum amount of air that a person can exhale after taking a breath. This decreased annually by 4.3 milliliters more for women cleaning at home than for women who did not clean. For cleaning staff even by 7.1 milliliters.

Detergents irritate the lungs

However, the researchers found no evidence that cleaning agents - like smoking - increase the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The researchers were initially amazed at the degree of lung function loss. “But if you imagine inhaling small particles that are actually there to clean the floor, it is ultimately not that surprising,” says study author Oistein Svenes. So not only are spray products risky, but other irritating detergents too.

Damage to mucous membranes

The authors suspect that most cleaning chemicals first damage the mucous membranes of the airways. In the long term, this could permanently change the airways. Even if this applies to a greater extent to spray cleaners, cleaning chemicals such as floor cleaners that are not sprayed on can also damage the lungs. Because they also pass into the air we breathe.

Cleaning men are spared

Interestingly, the scientists could not find a greater decrease in lung function in the male cleaning participants. They suspect that men's lungs cope better with pollutants overall than women's. This also applies to tobacco smoke, for example.

"It is very likely that cleaning chemicals will cause substantial long-term damage to the lungs," says Oistein Svanes. “The practical knowledge that you can take away from it: Avoid cleaning chemicals as much as possible!” These are mostly superfluous anyway, since microfiber cloths and water can be cleaned just as well.

However, the informative value of the study is diminished by two factors: On the one hand, that very few women do not clean at all (15 percent). On the other hand, that significantly fewer men cleaned than women.

Effects of poor lung function

With age, the function of the lungs naturally decreases, and with it the oxygen supply to the body. Therefore, the physical endurance worsens. Normal, age-related changes usually do not restrict normal everyday activities, but become noticeable when stressed. If older people also get a cold, complications such as pneumonia occur more often due to the impaired lung function.

However, a pathologically impaired lung function, for example due to asthma or COPD, can cause significant performance losses. In the case of COPD, this extends to severe shortness of breath, even at rest.

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