Association between household cleaning product profiles evaluated by the Menag'Score® index and asthma symptoms among women from the SEPAGES cohort

Objective Considering household disinfectants and cleaning products (HDCP) as mixture of ingredients, rather than each ingredient individually, might help in characterizing their role in asthma. We investigated the association between HDCP and asthma, using the recently developed Menag'Score (R), a health risk assessment score based on exhaustive ingredient lists of HDCP. Methods The study is based on 103 female volunteers of the SEPAGES cohort (2014-2019), with repeated data (up to 3 collection times, 200 observations). HDCP use was assessed from a barcode-based smartphone application linked with an ingredient database. The Menag'score (R) risks for health and environment were computed for each weekly used HDCP from their exhaustive ingredient data (from A: no known risk to E: highest risk). The association between the use of HDCP with a poor Menag'score (R) (D or E; overall, health, environment scores) and asthma symptoms, was estimated by generalized estimating equations models adjusted for age, BMI and smoking status. Results Participants were on average 33 years old, 11% smoked and 20% had at least one asthma symptom. The Menag'score (R) was computed for 540 HDCP scanned by participants. Weekly use of HDCP with a poor Menag'score (R)-health (around 60% of the participants) was associated with a higher risk of asthma symptoms (OR 3.13, 95% CI [1.32-7.43]). No association was observed for the Menag'score(R)-environment. Conclusion The use of HDCP with a poor Menag'score (R)-health was associated with asthma symptoms. The results support the use of the Menag'score (R)-health to further evaluate the health risks of HDCP in observational studies and as a potential public health tool.

Automated summary

This study investigated the association between household disinfectants and cleaning products (HDCP) and asthma using the Menag'Score (R), finding that the use of HDCP with poor Menag'score (R)-health was associated with asthma symptoms. This suggests the potential use of the Menag'score (R)-health as a tool to evaluate the health risks of HDCP in observational studies.