HOUSEPROUD (By Victoria Fletcher, Health Editor)
Mothers-to-be could be condemning their children to lives of illness. Despite believing that they are creating a bug-free environment safe for their children, the women may be exposing them to harmful chemicals. Researchers suggest that in the long-term, the mothers could increase their children’s risk of asthma by as much as 41 per cent.
They then compared the results with the mothers’ exposure to household chemicals.
The study found that the more chemicals that mothers were exposed to, the higher the chance of children suffering from wheeziness.
Toddlers up to 18 months old saw their risk of wheezing rise by 41 per cent. By 30 months, this had increased to 43 per cent. After this age and up to seven, the risk increased by almost 70 per cent.
In the past, research has suggested that creating a clean home may stop a child being exposed to bacteria.
But although this sounds good news, it may prevent children from building up a natural immunity to bugs, increasing their chances of suffering asthma later.
The latest research suggests that it could be the direct effect of chemicals in cleaning fluids which is to blame after coming into contact with the foetus or the new-born baby.
Dr Alexandra Farrow, whose study was published in the European Respiratory Journal, said: “Previous research has shown that a child’s risk of developing asthma is lower if he or she is exposed to bacteria in early life.
“This is probably because it assists in the development of a child’s immune system.
