Institute and Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine (Dr Weinmann, Mr Forster, Dr Windstetter, Dr Nowak, Dr Radon, Dr Gerlich); Dr. v. Haunersches Kinderspital (Dr von Mutius), University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet; Comprehensive Pneumology Centre (CPC), German Centre for Lung Research (DZL) (Dr Weinmann, Mr Forster, Dr von Mutius, Dr Windstetter, Dr Nowak, Dr Radon, Dr Gerlich), Munich; Paediatric Department, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, TU Dresden, Dresden (Dr Vogelberg); Institute of Epidemiology and Medical Biometry, Ulm University, Ulm (Dr Genuneit); and Pediatric Epidemiology, Department of Pediatrics, University Medicine Leipzig, Leipzig (Dr Genuneit), Germany.
Address correspondence to: Tobias Weinmann, PhD, Institute and Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Ziemssenstr. 1, 80336 Munich, Germany ([email protected]).
Clinical significance: We observed some evidence that young employees in cleaning or health services occupationally exposed to disinfectants may be at elevated risk of developing asthma. Awareness and prevention programmes starting right at the beginning of young employees’ careers may help to reduce the burden of respiratory disease in this group.
Funding: SOLAR II was funded by the German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the German Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
Author contribution: T.W. performed the data analysis and drafted the manuscript. F.F. is the fieldwork coordinator of the SOLAR study being in charge of data collection. C.V., J.Ger., and K.R. are principle investigators of SOLAR and responsible for the scientific coordination of the project. D.N., D.W., Ev.M., and J.Gen. contributed to the conception and implementation of SOLAR. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflicts of Interests: None declared.
