New parents who obsessively clean their homes to protect babies from germs might want to relax a bit, suggests a new study linking high exposure to cleaning products with an increased risk of childhood asthma.

Researchers surveyed parents about how often they used 26 common household cleaners over babies' first three to four months of life. By the time the kids were 3 years old, children with the highest exposure to cleaning products were 37% more likely to have been diagnosed with asthma than those with the least exposure.

With greater exposure to cleaning products, kids were also 35% more likely to have chronic wheezing and 49% more likely to have chronic allergies, the study found.

"Parents are striving to maintain a healthy home for their children," said study coauthor Dr. Tim Takaro of Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada.

More at source: CMAJ

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