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. 2021 Feb 1;18(3):1323.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18031323.

Scoping Review-The Association between Asthma and Environmental Chemicals

Tiina Mattila  1   2 , Tiina Santonen  3 , Helle Raun Andersen  4 , Andromachi Katsonouri  5 , Tamás Szigeti  6 , Maria Uhl  7 , Wojciech Wąsowicz  8 , Rosa Lange  9 , Beatrice Bocca  10 , Flavia Ruggieri  10 , Marike Kolossa-Gehring  9 , Denis A Sarigiannis  11 , Hanna Tolonen  1
Affiliations

Scoping Review-The Association between Asthma and Environmental Chemicals

Tiina Mattila et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases worldwide affecting all age groups from children to the elderly. In addition to other factors such as smoking, air pollution and atopy, some environmental chemicals are shown or suspected to increase the risk of asthma, exacerbate asthma symptoms and cause other respiratory symptoms. In this scoping review, we report environmental chemicals, prioritized for investigation in the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU), which are associated or possibly associated with asthma. The substance groups considered to cause asthma through specific sensitization include: diisocyanates, hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) and possibly p-phenylenediamine (p-PDA). In epidemiological studies, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and organophosphate insecticides are associated with asthma, and phthalates, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), pyrethroid insecticides, mercury, cadmium, arsenic and lead are only potentially associated with asthma. As a conclusion, exposure to PAHs and some pesticides are associated with increased risk of asthma. Diisocyanates and Cr(VI) cause asthma with specific sensitization. For many environmental chemicals, current studies have provided contradicting results in relation to increased risk of asthma. Therefore, more research about exposure to environmental chemicals and risk of asthma is needed.

Keywords: HBM4EU; asthma; environmental chemicals; exposure; occupation.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors completed the work related to this article as a function of their regular duties in the HBM4EU project. Neither the corresponding author nor any of the other authors have any relevant conflicts of interest.

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