House Dust Avoidance during Pregnancy and Subsequent Infant Development: The Japan Environment and Children's Study.

Hidekuni Inadera,Kenta Matsumura,Kei Hamazaki,Akiko Tsuchida

doi:10.3390/ijerph18084277

Hidekuni Inadera, Kenta Matsumura + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084277

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Abstract

House dust, well known for causing allergy, contains chemicals that are harmful to fetal neurodevelopment. However, whether countermeasures for house dust allergy, such as frequent use of vacuum cleaners, frequent airing of futons, and the usage of anti-mite covers during pregnancy, are related to subsequent reduced risk of infant developmental delay remains unknown. Therefore, we examined this association by analyzing 81,106 mother-infant pairs who participated in a nationwide birth cohort in Japan. Infant developmental delays at 6 and 12 months postpartum were assessed using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, Third Edition. A generalized linear model analysis was used to derive adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with the lowest care frequency as reference, while controlling 22 covariates. Our analysis showed that the above-mentioned cleaning measures were overall associated with a reduced risk of developmental delays, both at 6 and 12 months postpartum (AOR varied from 0.73 to 0.95, median: 0.84). Additionally, risks tended to decrease with an increase in the cleaning frequency. In conclusion, a negative dose-response association existed between these measures during pregnancy and infant developmental delay. Our results identify a potential role of frequent vacuum cleaning, airing bedding, and usage of anti-mite bedding covers in promoting intact infant development.

Highlights

House dust has been identified as one of the major causes of allergy
In the Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS), 103,062 pregnancies were registered between January 2011 and March 2014 via faceto-face recruitment at public agencies across 15 regions, including both rural and urban locations throughout Japan
Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) varied from 0.69–1.04 at 6 months and 0.66–1.01 at 12 months. This is the first study to examine the prospective association of home cleaning measures for house dust avoidance during pregnancy, including frequent vacuum cleaning, airing bedding, and usage of anti-mite bedding covers, with subsequent infant development until 1 year of age

Summary

Introduction

House dust has been identified as one of the major causes of allergy It contains several allergens such as pollen, mites, human and pet skin that mites feed on, and pet hair [1]. House dust contains various chemicals such as lead [5], di(2ethylhexyl) phthalate (phthalate ester) [6], polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) [7], and polybrominated diphenyl ethers [8]. These chemicals are known to interfere with normal infant neurodevelopment [9,10,11].

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