Asthma is a disease that narrows the airway and makes breathing difficult and lasts a lifetime in attacks.
Asthma is most common in women among adults. The risk of asthma is higher in women who use cleaning materials.
Turkish Thoracic Society (TTD) Asthma Allergy Working Group Member Assoc. Dr. Leyla Pur Özyiğit explained that a multi-center study was conducted in the USA.
“The study revealed that the male gender predominates in asthma patients that started in childhood, and the female gender predominates in adult-onset asthma patients.”
Housewives have a higher risk of asthma
Dr. from Turkish Thoracic Association. Birsen Ocaklı also said that women and men face different job risks at different levels.
“Women spend 6 times more time than men on daily household and care work.”
Most cleaning materials contain petroleum derivatives. This increases the risk of airway diseases, especially asthma, as housewives are more exposed to these products.
Turkish Thoracic Society conducted a study on the subject. Dr. Ocaklı explained the work as follows:
“In a multi-center study, the risk of asthma was found to be high in housewives. Although it has been abandoned in developed countries in the world, in developing countries and in Turkey, biomass fuels are widely used for heating and cooking in the form of wood, manure and crop residues in traditional tandoors, especially in rural areas. The average daily particulate matter (PM) production of biomass fuels is 300-5000 μg/m3, which is much higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) PM threshold value (50 μg/m3). These striking figures show that young children, along with women, are at risk for biomass smoke exposure. Biomass exposure creates risks for COPD and lung cancers.”
Unhealthy working conditions cause lung problems
According to Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) data, 47.7 percent of working women in Turkey work in the service sector, 37 percent in agriculture and 15.3 percent in industry.
Dr. Ocaklı reminded that in Turkey, seasonal agricultural worker women's work starts early in the morning and continues until midnight.
“Unhealthy working conditions cause various lung problems, especially airway diseases. Although there is no gender difference in terms of respiratory functions in food processing, occupational asthma may develop in those working in the food processing sector. In metropolises, sick building syndrome, accompanied by respiratory system symptoms observed in plaza workers, affects mostly female employees.”
Source: AA
