Household cleaners can be as bad as smoking for your lungs

”People who have worked as cleaners or done household cleaning for 20 years have reduced lung function equivalent to smoking 20 cigarettes a day, for the same period of time,” says PHD-candidate Øistein Svanes, at the Department of Clinical Science, at the University of Bergen (UiB).

He is main author of a new study, recently published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Bad for lungs

He says his findings might not be surprising, when thinking about all the small particles that come with cleaning products.

The study also shows that cleaners have 40 per cent higher risk of developing asthma than others.

The research includes 6 000 participants, based on the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS).

"Use a water bucket"

Professor Cecilie Svanes at the Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, UiB, supervisor of the study, says the cleaning sprays are the main problem.

”The small particles from the sprays can remain in the air for hours after cleaning. The small particles can travel deep into the lungs and cause infections, and ageing of the lungs,” Svanes explains.

“I would recommend using a bucket of water and soap when cleaning. You will not need a lot of chemicals after all, when cleaning. Microfibre cloths may be just as effective,” Cecile Svanes points out.

Related content

Cleaning air the natural way

A new air purification unit requires little energy in removing toxic gasses, dust and bacteria, much the way air is cleansed in the atmosphere. The new invention is out of the test lab and now cleaning industrial emissions.

Being unfit nearly as harmful as smoking

Poor physical fitness amounts to nearly as high a risk of premature death as tobacco smoking and appears to be more lethal than hypertension and cholesterol.