Environmentally harmful chemicals found in detergents are flushed out with wastewater into our waterways. But even in a closed environment, humans are vulnerable to inappropriate exposure. Most workplaces are still cleaned with chemicals and when a surface is considered "cleaned" in the everyday sense, it means that the dirt is removed without reflecting on the chemical residue that is actually left. And when we touch this surface, the residue can enter our system. In human blood samples and breast milk, researchers have found over 300 chemical substances, some of which can affect our hormone system or nervous system.
A recently conducted study (2019) at the University of Bergen in Norway shows that regular use of detergents can, in the long term, affect lung function as much as smoking. The study, now published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, indicates that women in particular are at risk. The researchers have followed 6,235 men and women for 20 years, from the age of 34. The detergents were found to have a particularly significant negative effect on women.
"The decline in lung function is comparable to what you get from heavy smoking," says Öistein Svanes, one of the researchers behind the study, adding that the study had removed other factors that are known to affect lung function: for example smoking, socioeconomic status and weight. He emphasises that the comparison with cigarettes only applies to lung function.
- Smoking is, of course, more harmful from a number of other aspects, in that it can cause lung cancer and cardiovascular disease. No effects on men were noted. The study showed no significant effects on men who regularly cleaned at home or worked as cleaners. Öistein Svanes says that does not mean that there is no impact on men.
- But previous studies also indicate that women's lungs are more vulnerable to chemicals, says Öistein Svanes. The fact that it can be harmful to inhale small particles from detergents is not really surprising, he says.
- But I was a little surprised that the effect was so clear,” he says.
