Children breathing fumes from water-based paints have high risk of asthma, allergies

http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/glycol-ethers-and-allergies

2013
By Marla Cone, Editor in Chief, Environmental Health News

Children who sleep in bedrooms containing fumes from water-based paints and solvents are two to four times more likely to suffer allergies or asthma, according to a new scientific study.

Scientists measured the compounds – propylene glycol and glycol ethers, known as PGEs – in the bedroom air of 400 toddlers and preschoolers, and discovered that the children who breathed them had substantially higher rates of asthma, stuffy noses and eczema.

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If these findings are confirmed by other studies, “it may be another piece of the puzzle as to why atopic diseases like allergy and asthma are on the rise, particularly in kids,” said Laoisa, who was not involved in the research.

“It also is concerning given how ubiquitous these compounds are, particularly at low levels like those found in this study,” he said.

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The researchers did not identify the sources of the PGEs. But children living in a house where at least one room was painted right before or after their birth had 63 percent more PGEs in their room than those whose houses had not been repainted. “Thus, repainting might have provided a sustained exposure since the gestational period or shortly following the birth,” the study said.

The airborne compounds can remain inside homes for months, perhaps even years.

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