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Understanding Asthma – and its causes:

November 5, 2021

 

Since 2001, the total number of people with asthma has increased from 7% to 8% in the U.S, with children being diagnosed with at slightly higher levels. As a parent, this is a huge and worrisome number. 

So what is asthma?

Asthma affects the respiratory system, causing the airways to become narrow, which limits the amount of air we can breathe into our lungs. Sometimes this narrowing makes our cells produce more mucus, which further limits airflow. A person with asthma will have shortness of breath, and perhaps wheeze, cough, and have chest tightness. Sometimes asthma ends on its own, but often it requires treatment with medication through an inhaler to open the airways. Some asthma attacks can be severe and require emergency treatment. Although asthma appears to be a lifelong disease, it can be easily controlled by medications that prevent an attack or reduce symptoms, or by avoiding by things that may trigger an attack. So what causes asthma?

Asthma is linked to a number of common household allergens and irritants, like pet fur and dander, dust, cigarette smoke, mold, and pollen. A number of other common pollutants found in the air can also cause asthma, such as ozone and car exhaust. Respiratory infections as an infant or in early childhood can also cause asthma. Asthma may also be genetic. Well, what about hairspray and cleaning products? 

Some research says that cleaning products may cause wheezing in young children. Another study even suggests that exposure before birth, or during pregnancy, may increase your kids’ risk of wheezing. Unfortunately, most studies cannot link one individual chemical or product to the increase in wheezing or asthma-like symptoms. And although we can rely on animal research to get this kind of information, animals are frequently exposed to extremely high concentrations, which do not represent everyday human exposures. In contrast, regular cleaning reduces the presence of known allergens and irritants mentioned above, and has been shown to reduce allergy and asthma symptoms. There are many sites on the internet that provide lists of chemicals and other items that supposedly cause asthma, but not all of these sites are reliable. If you are interested in seeing if a particular chemical might cause asthma, we recommend visiting the website of the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics that has a searchable database (http://www.aoecdata.org/ExpCodeLookup.aspx). A final note on causation, more recent research suggests that being TOO clean may actually increase your child’s risk of developing asthma. Huh? In fact, the modern world has greatly increased standards of hygiene and sanitation over the years, thereby reducing the rates of disease and increasing overall health.

That’s great, right? Maybe not!

This research, referred to as the “Hygiene Hypothesis,” suggests that because our better sanitation and hygiene has decreased the number of infections that our kids get, this hasactually caused an increase in asthma. Why? Because infections allow our immune systems to develop properly, and thus any reduction in childhood infections may actually make kids MORE at risk for allergy and asthma. Not surprisingly, the use of antibiotics in early childhood is also linked to childhood asthma and allergy problems, and maybe for the same reasons. We are not allowing our kids to recover from their own infections by themselves, which would strengthen their immune systems. 

So are kids getting asthma because of too many allergens or household chemicals? Or because they are not getting exposed to enough dirt? There is no real answer yet. But in the meantime, the US EPA suggests that improving household air quality can drastically reduce asthma and allergy symptoms (http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/careforyourair.html).

 

By
Michael Dourson and Melissa Vincent

WEEL OEL

Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs) are designed to safeguard the health of healthy workers during their careers. These limits are based on the assumption of repeated daily exposure throughout a working lifetime, typically averaged over an 8-hour workday. Their purpose is to prevent both immediate (acute) and long-term (chronic) health issues arising from workplace exposures. It’s important to note that OELs are not intended for the general public, which includes vulnerable groups like infants, the elderly, and those with pre-existing health conditions.

Workplace Environmental Exposure Levels (WEELs) are health-based guidelines for chemical hazards in the workplace. These values represent air concentrations believed to protect the majority of workers from negative health effects resulting from occupational chemical exposure.

The WEEL Process
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The development of new or revision of existing WEELs is typically assigned to voluntarily designated subcommittees. A subcommittee usually comprises 3 – 4 members from the WEEL Committee. New WEELs are developed using the OARS-WEEL administrative standard operating procedure (SOP), while existing WEELs are usually revised every 10 years, unless the availability of significant new data which may impact the existing WEEL value compels the committee to make a revision sooner. The OARS-WEEL SOP contains procedures and guidelines governing conflicts of interest, draft document preparation, literature searches, draft document review, balloting process, post-ballot WEEL documentation quality assurance scientific review, and publication.

Once a subcommittee has prepared a draft WEEL document, a review of the draft is scheduled for the next available Committee meeting. The WEEL Committee members are expected to have reviewed all such drafts prior to the meeting. If no major changes are necessary to a draft, the attending Committee membership may, by a simple majority, approve the WEEL for balloting. Alternatively, the Committee may direct the subcommittee to revise the WEEL and present it for further discussion at a future meeting. If a ballot is not approved by a two-thirds majority of non-abstaining Committee members, it is discussed at the next Committee meeting to determine the appropriate course of action. Once the WEEL is approved by a two-thirds majority of non-abstaining Committee members, copies of ballot comments are forwarded to the designated subcommittee and all substantive comments must be addressed in the final draft. If resolution of a substantive comment results in a change to the WEEL value or a change in the basis for the value, the draft must be re-balloted.

Once all comments have been addressed on a successfully balloted draft, document formatting and editorial review are performed by TERA, before the draft WEEL document is made available for public comment (usually for a period of 30 days but may be extended if the need arises). After the public comment period has elapsed, comments are addressed by the subcommittee responsible for that specific draft, after which the WEEL documentation is submitted to Toxicology and Industrial Health (TIH), a peer-reviewed medical journal that covers research in the fields of occupational health and toxicology, for publication. A thorough review of the galley proof by the scientific content quality coordinator at TERA, and proofreaders and editors at TIH is the penultimate step before eventual publication of the WEEL documentation.

The WEEL Committee

The OARS-WEEL Committee is composed of volunteer experts specializing in the scientific determination of occupational exposure levels. This committee actively seeks a balanced representation of professionals from toxicology and industrial hygiene, drawing upon a diverse range of experience from industry, government, academia, and consulting. Importantly, each member contributes to the Committee based on their individual expertise and not as an official representative of their respective employer, organization, or agency.