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Asthma

• Association of urinary organophosphate metabolites with adult asthma patients: a cross-sectional population-based study.
  Human health is adversely affected by exposure to organophosphate (OP) pesticides. This study aims to investigate the correlation between urinary OP metabolites and the prevalence of asthma. In cross-sectional studies, data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) projects conducted between 2003-2008, 2011-2012, and 2015-2018 were analyzed. Multiple logistic regressions and restricted cubic spline (RCS) regressions were utilized to examine the relationship between four urinary OP metabolites, namely dimethyl phosphate (DMP), diethyl phosphate (DEP), dimethyl phosphorothioate (DMTP), and diethyl phosphorothioate (DETP), and the prevalence of asthma. Additionally, quantile g-computation (QG-C) regression was employed to evaluate the association between urinary OP metabolites (both individual and combined exposures) and asthma prevalence. The results showed that a total of 9316 adults, including 1298 participants with asthma, were included in the analysis. The median age of the participants was 47.37 years, and 50.27% were female. In the comprehensive model, the third tertile of DMP and DEP exhibited a positive association with asthma prevalence compared to the first tertile (odds ratio [95% confidence interval]: 1.26 [1.01-1.57], Ptrend = 0.036; and 1.25 [1.07-1.51], Ptrend = 0.008, respectively). Moreover, a linear relationship was observed between DMP, DEP, and asthma prevalence (P for nonlinearity = 0.320 and 0.553, respectively). The QG-C regression revealed a positive association between the mixture of urinary OP metabolites and asthma prevalence (OR = 1.04 [1.01-1.07], P = 0.025), with DEP contributing the most substantial effect (weight = 0.564). Our findings suggest that exposure to OP pesticides is associated with an increased prevalence of asthma, with DEP demonstrating the strongest impact.
  [Zhu, N., Lin, S., Huang, W., Yu, H. and Cao, C., 2023. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, pp.1-11.]
• Biomarkers of organophosphate insecticides exposure and asthma in general US adults: findings from NHANES 1999–2018 data
  The limited evidence linking exposure to organophosphate insecticides (OPIs) and asthma in the general population prompted us to investigate this association. Our study focused on US adults and utilized representative samples from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). From the 7 NHANES waves (1999-2018), we detected OPIs exposure using the urinary concentrations of six metabolites of dialkyl phosphates (DAPs). To evaluate the relationship between these OPIs and asthma, we employed three statistical methods: survey-multivariable logistic regression (SMLR), generalized weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression, and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR). Stratified analyses were done based on the relevant variable subgroups, and sensitivity analyses were carried out to evaluate the robustness of findings. A total of 6009 adults aged from 20 to 85 years old, representing the 313.5 million adults in the non-institutionalized US population, were included in our analyses. Among them, 842 participants were determined as asthma patients with an age-adjusted prevalence of 14.2%. Our results showed that dimethyl phosphate (DMP) (adjusted odd ratio (AOR) = 1.471, 95% CI: 1.086, 1.993), diethyl phosphate (DEP) (AOR = 1.453, 95% CI: 1.118, 1.888), dimethyl thiophosphate (DMTP) (AOR = 1.454, 95% CI: 1.071, 1.973), and dimethyl dithiophosphate (DMDTP) (AOR = 1.478, 95% CI: 1.119, 1.953) had a positive correlation with asthma in adults. This association was stronger in females, non-Hispanic White populations and those with a small amount of physical activity. Our study findings indicated that exposure to OPIs may elevate the risk of asthma in US general adults. Specifically, females, individuals from non-Hispanic White backgrounds, and those with lower levels of physical activity are more susceptible to developing asthma when exposed to OPIs.
  [Liang, J.H., Liu, M.L., Pu, Y.Q., Huang, S., Jiang, N., Huang, S.Y., Pu, X.Y., Dong, G.H. and Chen, Y.J., 2023. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, pp.1-11.]
• Influence of Rural Environmental Factors in Asthma
  The objective of this article is to review recent literature on the implications of agricultural factors including pesticides, animal/livestock production facilities, agricultural dust, endotoxin, biomass/crop burning, and nutritional factors with respiratory health. PubMed, Embase, and CINAHL literature searches for the years 2016 to 2021 were conducted with librarian assistance. Several studies suggest increased risk for asthma or wheeze with certain rural exposures, particularly for pesticides, livestock production facilities, agricultural dust, and biomass and crop burning. A complex network of environmental factors exists, which may have detrimental effects on the respiratory health of rural residents.
  [Luedders, J. and Poole, J.A., 2022. Immunology and Allergy Clinics.]
• Influence of pesticides on respiratory pathology – a literature review
  Pesticides are widely employed in agriculture, and the food industry is forced to combat the pests and diseases they cause. Respiratory pathology is related to occupational exposure to pesticides. Impairment of pulmonary function was observed among people professionally exposed to pesticides. Because of the marked use of pesticides in agriculture during the last 20 years, there has been a significant increase in respiratory problems within the population, not only among people who come in direct contact with them, but even in the case of manipulators. The aim is a review of the literature of the past 10 years on the correlation between occupational exposure to pesticides and respiratory pathology. Electronic search in ‘Pub Med’ and ‘Web of Science’ was performed in September 2019 to find papers regarding the above-investigated aspects. Abstracts and full-text articles containing the targeted subject were included. Reviews and studies about the influence of pesticides on other pathologies than respiratory were excluded. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, eligible full-text articles were identified. Exposure to pesticides is highly correlated with respiratory pathologies (asthma, COPD, lung cancer). Contact with these substances can occur at any time in the production, transport, preparation or application of the treatments. Numerous studies documented the association between exposure to pesticides, and therefore the increased incidence of respiratory, cardiovascular and renal diseases, as well as the aging phenomenon.
  [Tarmure, S., Alexescu, T.G., Orasan, O., Negrean, V., Sitar-Taut, A.V., Coste, S.C. and Todea, D.A., 2020. Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine: AAEM, 27(2), pp.194-200.]
• Pollution and children's health
  Findings
  The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health found that pollution – air, water, soil, and chemical pollution - was responsible in 2016 for 940,000 deaths in children worldwide, two-thirds of them in children under the age of 5. Pollution is inequitably distributed, and the overwhelming majority of pollution-related deaths in children occurred in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Most were due to respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases caused by polluted air and water.

  Pollution is linked also to multiple non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in children including low birth weight, asthma, cancer and neurodevelopmental disorders, and these diseases are on the rise. The full impact of pollution, especially chemical pollution on the global burden of pediatric disease is not yet known, but almost certainly is undercounted because patterns of chemical exposure are not well charted and the potential toxicity of many chemical pollutants has not been characterized. The list of pediatric NCDs attributed to pollution will likely expand as the health effects of newer chemical pollutants are better defined and additional associations between pollution and disease are discovered.

  Conclusion
  Pollution prevention presents a major, largely unexploited opportunity to improve children's health and prevent NCDs, especially in LMICs. Failure to incorporate pollution prevention into NCD control programs is a major missed opportunity for disease prevention.
  [Landrigan, P. et al. (2019) ‘Pollution and children’s health’, Science of The Total Environment, 650, pp. 2389–2394. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969718338543?via%3Dihub. ]

• Glyphosate pathways to modern diseases V: Amino acid analogue of glycine in diverse proteins
  Glyphosate, a synthetic amino acid and analogue of glycine, is the most widely used biocide on the planet. Its presence in food for human consumption and animal feed is ubiquitous. Epidemiological studies have revealed a strong correlation between the increasing incidence in the United States of a large number of chronic diseases and the increased use of glyphosate herbicide on corn, soy and wheat crops. Glyphosate, acting as a glycine analogue, may be mistakenly incorporated into peptides during protein synthesis. A deep search of the research literature has revealed a number of protein classes that depend on conserved glycine residues for proper function. Glycine, the smallest amino acid, has unique properties that support flexibility and the ability to anchor to the plasma membrane or the cytoskeleton. Glyphosate substitution for conserved glycines can easily explain a link with diabetes, obesity, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary edema, adrenal insufficiency, hypothyroidism, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease, prion diseases, lupus, mitochondrial disease, nonHodgkin’s lymphoma, neural tube defects, infertility, hypertension, glaucoma, osteoporosis, fatty liver disease and kidney failure. The correlation data together with the direct biological evidence make a compelling case for glyphosate action as a glycine analogue to account for much of glyphosate’s toxicity. Glufosinate, an analogue of glutamate, likely exhibits an analogous toxicity mechanism. There is an urgent need to find an effective and economical way to grow crops without the use of glyphosate and glufosinate as herbicides.
  [Samsel, A. and Seneff, S., 2016. J Biol Phys Chem, 16(6), pp.9-46.]
• "Where they (live, work and) spray": pesticide exposure, childhood asthma and environmental justice among Mexican-American farmworkers
  Asthma prevalence is reportedly low for children of Mexican descent compared with other ethnic groups and Latino subgroups. The results of this exploratory ethnographic research among children of farmworkers in California dramatically suggest otherwise. Little work has been reported employing photovoice, a community-based participatory research method, to study childhood exposure to pesticides. A rich narrative about perceptions of pesticide exposure emerged from the ethnographic interviews. Thematic analysis yielded beliefs about the relationship between air quality and childhood asthma. The findings suggest that childhood asthma should be reviewed within the context of local levels of environmental exposure and the principles of environmental justice.
  [Schwartz NA, von Glascoe CA, Torres V, et al. 2015. Health Place. 32:83-92.]
• Asthma associated with pesticide exposure among women in rural Western Cape of South Africa.
  Few studies have investigated asthma and pesticides among women farm workers in developing countries.
  A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the association between pesticides and asthma among rural women (n = 211). Outcome measurements included respiratory symptoms (European Community Respiratory Health Survey questionnaire), immunological status (Phadiatop, serum IgE to mite allergens) and lower airway inflammation (fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) levels). Exposure variables included self-reported pesticide exposure and whole blood cholinesterase (ChE). The prevalence of ocular-nasal symptoms (ONS), doctor-diagnosed asthma and current asthma was 24%, 11%, and 6% respectively. ONS was positively associated with re-entering a sprayed field. Asthma symptom score was associated with low ChE. Participants with high FeNO (>50 ppb) also had an elevated odds of having low ChE. Pesticide exposure among women farm workers is associated with increased risk of ocular nasal symptoms and an elevated asthma symptom score.
  [Ndlovu V, Dalvie MA, Jeebhay MF. 2014. Am J Ind Med. 57(12):1331-43.]
• Exacerbation of symptoms in agricultural pesticide applicators with asthma.
  Study investigated whether exacerbation of symptoms is associated with farming exposures among agricultural pesticide applicators with asthma.Participants were pesticide applicators with active asthma (wheezing and breathing problems in past 12 months) who completed enrollment questionnaires for the Agricultural Health Study (AHS). Exacerbation of asthma was defined as having visited a hospital emergency room or doctor for an episode of wheezing or whistling in the past 12 months. Exposures of interest were using 36 specific pesticides in the past 12 months and conducting various agricultural activities.The 926 AHS adult pesticide applicators with active asthma included 202 (22%) with exacerbation. Inverse associations with exacerbation were observed for two herbicides [glyphosate and paraquat] and several agricultural activities (repairing engines, grinding metal, driving diesel tractors, and performing veterinary procedures). Only asthma cases with allergies (i.e., doctor-diagnosed hay fever or eczema, 46%) had positive exacerbation-pesticide associations, with OR = 2.1 for the herbicide pendimethalin and OR = 10.2 for the insecticide aldicarb.The inverse associations with two pesticides and specific farm activities are consistent with the possibility that asthma cases prone to exacerbation may avoid exposures that trigger symptoms. Although limited by small sample size and a cross-sectional design, our study suggests that use of specific pesticides may contribute to exacerbation of asthma among individuals with allergies.
  [Henneberger PK, Liang X, London SJ, et al.2014. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 87(4):423-32.]
• Pesticides and Asthma: Challenges for Epidemiology
  Associations between pesticide exposure and asthma in children, adults, and occupational groups have been reported, but these have not yet been shown to be causal and the biological explanation tying the two remains unclear – it could lie in the mechanisms such as irritation, inflammation, immunosuppression, endocrine disruption, or a combination of these. So far, it is also unknown how pesticides interact with genes that increase susceptibility to asthma.This revies explores the relationship between pesticides and asthma. The present body of evidence is clearly insufficient to draw conclusions about the effect pesticide use has on asthma. It is uncertain whether pesticides cause asthma or act as triggers for asthma exacerbation or both.The main limitations of the current evidence are the outcome definition and the exposure assessment. With larger and preferably prospective studies and better asthma definition and exposure assessment, it will be easier to evaluate the association between individual pesticide exposure and asthma, and additionally it will be possible to identify gene–pesticide interactions. The identification and parameterization of these interactions will mean a big step forward in the understanding of the biological pathways that link pesticide exposure to asthma development and asthma exacerbation.
  [Amaral, A. 2014. Front Public Health.2:6]
• Pesticide use, immunologic conditions, and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in Canadian men in six provinces.
  Pesticide exposures and immune suppression have been independently associated with the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), but their joint effect has not been well explored. Data from a case-control study of men from six Canadian provinces were used to evaluate the potential effect modification of asthma, allergies, or asthma and allergies and hay fever combined on NHL risk. Incident NHL cases (n = 513) diagnosed between 1991 and 1994 were recruited from provincial cancer registries and hospitalization records and compared to 1,506 controls. Subjects with asthma, allergies, or hay fever had non-significantly elevated risks of NHL associated with use of MCPA (OR = 2.67) compared to subjects without any of these conditions (OR = 0.81). Conversely, those with asthma, allergies, or hay fever who reported use of malathion had lower risks of NHL (OR = 1.25) versus subjects with none of these conditions (OR = 2.44). Similar effects were observed for asthma and allergies evaluated individually. Although there were some leads regarding effect modification by these immunologic conditions on the association between pesticide use and NHL, small numbers, measurement error and possible recall bias limit interpretation of these results.
  [Pahwa M, Harris SA, Hohenadel K, McLaughlin JR, et al.2012.Int J Cancer. 131(11):2650-9.]
• Gene-Environment Interactions and Airway Disease in Children
  Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood in the United States, affecting nearly 6.5 million children. The prevalence and severity of childhood asthma have continued to increase over the past 2 decades, despite major advances in the recognition and treatment of this condition. Representing a heterogeneous collection of airway diseases, asthma has multiple pathologic processes resulting from the interactions of genetic susceptibility and environmental exposures. Preventing and treating airway disease in children will require new research approaches to understanding these complex interactions.
  [Schwartz, D. 2009. Pediatrics.123, Supplement 3:S151 -S159]
• Pesticides and Atopic and Nonatopic Asthma among Farm Women in the Agricultural Health Study
  Studying 25,814 farm women in the Agricultural Health Study, authors used self-reported history of doctor-diagnosed asthma with or without eczema and/or hay fever to create two case groups: patients with atopic asthma and those with nonatopic asthma. Growing up on a farm (61% of all farm women) was protective for atopic asthma and, to a lesser extent, for nonatopic asthma. Pesticide use was almost exclusively associated with atopic asthma. Any use of pesticides on the farm was associated only with atopic asthma. This association with pesticides was strongest among women who had grown up on a farm. Women who grew up on farms and did not apply pesticides had the lowest overall risk of atopic asthma compared with women who neither grew up on farms nor applied pesticides. A total of 7 of 16 insecticides, 2 of 11 herbicides, and 1 of 4 fungicides were significantly associated with atopic asthma; only permethrin use on crops was associated with nonatopic asthma.
  [Hoppin, J.et al. 2008. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Vol 177. pp. 11-18]
• Atopy, exposure to pesticides and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma
  Although the Australian population based case control study did not find a clear connection with asthma and pesticide exposure and NHL, it did find an increased risk of NHL with occupational pesticide exposure and a history of asthma as well as with occupational pesticide exposure an no history of asthma.
  [Vajdic, C.M., et al. 2007. Int J Cancer 120(10):2271-2274]
• Asthma's Impact on Children and Adolescents
  Low-income populations, minorities, and children living in inner cities experience disproportionately high morbidity and mortality due to asthma.
  [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health. 2005]
• Summary health statistics for U.S. children: National Health Interview Survey, 2003.
  This report presents both age-adjusted and unadjusted statistics from the 2003 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) on selected health measures for children under 18 years of age, classified by sex, age, race, Hispanic origin, family structure, parent's education, family income, poverty status, health insurance coverage, place of residence, region, and current health status. The topics covered are asthma, allergies, learning disability, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), use of prescription medication, respondent-assessed health status, school-loss days, usual place of health care, time since last contact with a health care professional, unmet dental needs, time since last dental contact, and selected measures of health care access. In 2003, most U.S. children under 18 years of age had excellent or very good health (83%). However, 10% of children had no health insurance coverage, and 5% of children had no usual place of health care. Thirteen percent of children had ever been diagnosed with asthma. An estimated 8% of children 3-17 years of age had a learning disability, and an estimated 6% of children had ADHD.
  [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2005. Vital and Health Statistics 10 (223)]
• Asthma and the environment: Connecting the dots
  Report explores the rapid increase in asthma rates in recent years which cannot be explained by genetic causes alone, as genetic changes require many generations for population-wide effects to occur, and because asthma rates are increasing among people without a family history of asthma and allergies.
  [Solomon, G., EH Humphreys, and MD Miller. 2004. Contemporary Pediatrics 21: 73]
• Asthma Prevalence and Control Characteristics by Race/Ethnicity - United States, 2002
  To assess asthma prevalence and asthma-control characteristics among racial/ethnic populations, CDC analyzed 2002 data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicated that among the estimated 16 million (7.5%) U.S. adults with asthma, self-reported current asthma prevalence among racial/ethnic minority populations ranged from 3.1% to 14.5%, compared with 7.6% among whites.
  [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2004. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 53(07);145-148]
• Early-Life Environmental Risk Factors for Asthma: Findings from the Children's Health Study
  To investigate further whether the timing of such experiences and exposures is associated with the occurrence of asthma by 5 years of age, authors conducted a prevalence case-control study nested within the Children's Health Study, a population-based study of > 4,000 school-aged children in 12 southern California communities. Asthma diagnosis before 5 years of age was associated with exposures in the first year of life to wood or oil smoke, soot, or exhaust , cockroaches , herbicides, pesticides, and farm crops, farm dust, or farm animals. The ORs for herbicide, pesticide, farm animal, and crops were largest among children with early-onset persistent asthma. The risk of asthma decreased with an increasing number of siblings. Day care attendance within the first 4 months of life was positively associated with early-onset transient wheezing.
  [Salam, MT, YF Li, B Langholz, and FD Gilliland. 2004. Environmental Health Perspectives 112 (6): 760-765]
• Health impacts of pesticide exposure in a cohort of outdoor workers.
  We compared mortality of 1,999 outdoor staff working as part of an insecticide application program during 1935-1996 with that of 1,984 outdoor workers not occupationally exposed to insecticides, and with the Australian population. Surviving subjects also completed a morbidity questionnaire. Mortality was significantly higher in both exposed and control subjects compared with the Australian population. The major cause was mortality from smoking-related diseases. Mortality was also significantly increased in exposed subjects for a number of conditions that do not appear to be the result of smoking patterns. Compared with the general Australian population, mortality over the total study period was increased for asthma [standardized mortality ratio (SMR) = 3.45; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.39-7.10] and for diabetes (SMR = 3.57; 95% CI, 1.16-8.32 for subjects working < 5 years). Mortality from pancreatic cancer was more frequent in subjects exposed to 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane (SMR = 5.27; 95% CI, 1.09-15.40 for subjects working < 3 years). Compared with the control population, mortality from leukemia was increased in subjects working with more modern chemicals (standardized incidence ratio = 20.90; 95% CI, 1.54-284.41 for myeloid leukemia in the highest exposure group). There was also an increase in self-reported chronic illness and asthma, and lower neuropsychologic functioning scores among surviving exposed subjects when compared with controls. Diabetes was reported more commonly by subjects reporting occupational use of herbicides. These findings lend weight to other studies suggesting an association between adverse health effects and exposure to pesticides.
  [Beard, J., et al. 2003. Environmental Health Perspectives 111(5):724-730]
• Occupational asthma from fungicides fluazinam and chlorothalonil.
  Authors report two cases of occupational asthma caused by sensitisation to powdered fungicides fluazinam and chlorothalonil, from the same fungicide formulation plant. Both developed work related lower respiratory symptoms after a latent interval of asymptomatic exposure. The diagnosis in each case was confirmed with a serial peak flow record in the workplace followed by specific inhalation tests. These fungicides are known to cause dermatitis; this report indicates that these compounds can induce specific immunological reactions in the airways as well as skin.
  [Draper, A, P Cullinan, C Campbell, et al. 2003. Occup Environ Med 60: 76-77]
• Asthma the Breathtaking Disease
  In the last 20 years, asthma rates have soared to epidemic levels. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School Of Public Health researchers investigate the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the way our bodies work for clues to better asthma treatment and prevention.
  [Field, M. 2002. The Magazine of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School Of Public Health]
• Hazardous air pollutants and asthma
  Asthma has a high prevalence in the United States, and persons with asthma may be at added risk from the adverse effects of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). Complex mixtures (fine particulate matter and tobacco smoke) have been associated with respiratory symptoms and hospital admissions for asthma. The toxic ingredients of these mixtures are HAPs, but whether ambient HAP exposures can induce asthma remains unclear. Certain HAPs are occupational asthmagens, whereas others may act as adjuncts during sensitization. HAPs may exacerbate asthma because, once sensitized, individuals can respond to remarkably low concentrations, and irritants lower the bronchoconstrictive threshold to respiratory antigens. Adverse responses after ambient exposures to complex mixtures often occur at concentrations below those producing effects in controlled human exposures to a single compound. In addition, certain HAPs that have been associated with asthma in occupational settings may interact with criteria pollutants in ambient air to exacerbate asthma. Based on these observations and past experience with 188 HAPs, a list of 19 compounds that could have the highest impact on the induction or exacerbation of asthma was developed. Nine additional compounds were identified that might exacerbate asthma based on their irritancy, respirability, or ability to react with biological macromolecules. Although the ambient levels of these 28 compounds are largely unknown, estimated exposures from emissions inventories and limited air monitoring suggest that aldehydes (especially acrolein and formaldehyde) and metals (especially nickel and chromium compounds) may have possible health risk indices sufficient for additional attention. Recommendations for research are presented regarding exposure monitoring and evaluation of biologic mechanisms controlling how these substances induce and exacerbate asthma.
  [Leikauf, GD. 2002. Environmental Health Perspectives 110 (Suppl 4): 505-526]
• Asthma to tetramethrin.
  Case report of occupational asthma following exposure to tetramethrin.
  [Vandenplas, O, JP Delwiche, J Auverdin, et al. 2000. Allergy 55: 418-419]
• Fatal asthma in a child after use of an animal shampoo containing pyrethrin
  This case suggests that physicians should also be alert to formulations marketed as pyrethrin. Pesticides of this class are being used with increasing frequency in homes and are easily available to the public. Manufacturers are not required by the Environmental Protection Agency to state on the label that the pyrethrum formulations are allergens. The possibility of an acute allergic reaction occurring from the use of any currently marketed pyrethrum insecticide should be considered in any case of respiratory or dermal allergy of unknown cause.
  [Wagner, SL. 2000. West J Med 173: 86-87]
• Is the increase in asthma prevalence occurring in children without a family history of atopy?
  Study investigated the familial associations of asthma and atopic disease in a population in which the prevalence of asthma and atopy is increasing. The prevalence of reported asthma (22.5%), eczema (24%) and hayfever (20%) in the children was high but similar to previous studies in this population. Asthma was reported in 20.8% of children of parents without a history of asthma and 18% of children of parents without any history of atopic disease. In children of parents without a family history of atopic disease suggests that much of the increase in asthma prevalence is occurring in children without a significant genetic predisposition. Childhood asthma developing in what would previously have been regarded as low risk families may differ in its aetiology from classical atopic asthma.
  [Christie GL, McDougall CM, Helms PJ. 1998. Is the increase in asthma prevalence occurring in children without a family history of atopy? Scott Med J. 43 (6): 180-182]
• Asthmatic reactions to a commonly used aerosol insect killer.
  Seven patients with asthma and a history of chest tightness on exposure to aerosol insecticide sprays were studied. Under controlled conditions, objective measures of airways narrowing were taken before and after exposure to an aerosol insect killer (Mortein Pressure Pak). Chest tightness described as asthma was produced in all seven subjects, but only one showed a greater than 20% fall in FEV1, compared to baseline values. A further two subjects showed small changes in the maximum mid-expiratory flow rate. No changes were observed in the subjects' sensitivity to inhaled histamine before, and 24 hours after, exposure to the insecticide. Thus, exposure to a commonly used household insecticide spray produced marked symptoms in all subjects, but objective evidence of airways obstruction was present in only three, and no changes in bronchial reactivity to inhaled histamine occurred in any of the subjects
  [Newton JG and Breslin AB.1983. Med J Aust.1(8):378-80]
• Insecticides: household use and respiratory impairment
  An early study done in the 1960s in Hawaii shows that frequent household use of insecticides is correlated with an increased prevalence of respiratory disorders, including asthma and chronic bronchitis. The majority of the household pesticides used were insect sprays for mosquitoes, flies, and cockroaches
  [Weiner, BP, and RM Worth. 1969. Hawaii Medical Journal 28 (4): 283-285]