Using information collected by the Danish National Birth Cohort, researchers at Aarhus University revealed no significant connection between maternal occupational exposure to asthmogens and asthma risk in children up to age seven. The study was published in BMJ Open.
About 42,000 medical records were pulled from the birth cohort. Information on maternal occupational exposure was assessed using job titles reported during pregnancy and the Job Exposure Matrix post delivery. Questionnaires were used as a means of parental reporting of asthma and atopic dermatitis.
Based on the information collected, low molecular weight agents caused a borderline increase in asthma risk in children when mothers were exposed before or after pregnancy. No such increased risk was exhibited for women exposed during pregnancy.
Source: Christensen BH, Thulstrup AM, Hougaard KS, Skadhauge LR, Hansen KS, Frydenberg M, Schlünssen V. Maternal occupational exposure to asthmogens during pregnancy and risk of asthma in 7-year-old children: a cohort study. BMJ Open. 2013 Apr 11;3(4). pii: e002401. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002401. Print 2013.