Scientists urged to abandon household chemicals in order to fight allergies

Allergies have become a real epidemic of the 21st century – every third inhabitant of the Earth is familiar with allergic reactions firsthand. Among the reasons, experts name the industrial production of products, and climate change, and environmental problems. And also – the massive use of household chemicals in all areas, including households. The European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, together with the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, have launched an initiative that, among other things, calls for the voluntary elimination of various household cleaning products and a return to the old tried and true baking soda and vinegar. The document was analyzed by the MK columnist.

Specialists have developed the concept of “One Health”, which combines various approaches in order to improve the health of people with allergic diseases. At the same time, it is based on something like a return to the roots and the transition to, as they say, everything natural.

To begin with, the authors of the document list the main reasons for the massive spread of allergies around the planet. First of all, this is global climate change, which has already resulted in an increase in average air temperature by 1.1 degrees compared to 1800, and this growth continues at a rate of 0.2 ° C per decade. Because of this, the nature of the flowering of many plants has already changed and, as a result, the concentration of pollen in the air. Hence the increase in the number of people with seasonal hay fever.

In addition, biodiversity on the planet is changing, and people spend too little time in nature. “Declining biodiversity, as well as lifestyles of people and pets with increased hygiene, reduced physical activity and unhealthy diets lead to changes in epithelial barriers, microbiome, nutrition, and further to an increase in the prevalence of asthma, allergies or infectious diseases in both humans and in domestic animals,” the document says. With products, too, not everything is so simple: the authors of the initiative complain that the amount of dietary fiber in the diet of a modern person has decreased by 10 times compared to the ancestors of ten thousand years ago. In addition, we have not obtained food for a long time, but we buy it in stores, and there it is, to put it mildly, far from natural. Therefore, the prevalence of obesity is growing, which is very often accompanied by nutritional hunger (deficiency of microelements and vitamins), which also leads to various diseases associated with a decrease in immunity. Scientists note that people have become much less likely to come into contact with beneficial bacteria that live in cattle sheds or in the soil and are natural stimulants of innate immune system responses. Among other reasons, intensive agriculture with the use of pesticides and herbicides is also cited; the use of fast growing crops and easily breeding animals; the release of drug residues and chemical additives into the air, water and soil

In addition, the authors of the initiative specifically point out that under the influence of detergents for laundry and dishwashing, household cleaners, surfactants, enzymes and emulsifiers used in the food industry, cigarette smoke, particulate matter, diesel exhaust, ozone, nanoparticles, microplastics and allergens, the intestinal epithelial barrier is disrupted, which causes tissue inflammation and microbial dysbiosis and plays a role in the development of many chronic non-communicable diseases. At the same time, the residues of detergents that we use for personal hygiene (shampoo, toothpaste, shower gels, etc.), as well as chemicals for washing dishes and laundry and other cleaning products, can theoretically break the skin, respiratory and mucous barriers, which also creates excellent conditions for the development of inflammatory processes in the body and a tendency to allergies.

The authors of the initiative have drawn up a detailed plan on how to reduce all these negative effects on the immune system and make us less vulnerable to allergens. The first recommendation is familiar to Russians thanks to a popular proverb – everyone should plant at least one tree (that is, make a feasible contribution to the biodiversity of the planet). To the delight of environmentalists, doctors advise not to mow lawns and not to remove fallen leaves. Another important tip: you need to dig in the ground with your bare hands (and let the children do it).

Allergists also urge to buy only what is really necessary; save water (for example, take a shower instead of a bath) and electricity; wear clothes that have already been in use and firmly refuse any single-use plastic. They also advise saving food, but in a very peculiar way: buy only high-quality, regional, seasonal, organic products, and those that you haven’t eaten … resell in flea markets or in online second-hand stores. Well, separately, it is proposed to significantly cut the use of household chemicals, as well as body products (perfumes, deodorants, disinfectants). Instead of store-bought dishwashing detergents or stove cleaners, it is suggested to use sodium bicarbonate or vinegar. And instead of liquid shampoos and shower gels, use solid soap for hands, body and hair.

…Our doctors are not particularly enthusiastic about such proposals. “From soundness in this initiative is the call to plant a tree. Here we share it. Like the call to dig in the ground with your hands. Yes, kids can too. And also to save water (we will soon be turned off hot, apparently, the management company has already heard about this initiative, when they just had time), electricity and nerves. But the advice to buy “organic products” to consider a sound brain does not rise. As well as calls for the resale of products through flea markets,” says military doctor, therapist Alexei Vodovozov.

Immunologist Daria Kartashova in her social network says that we will not be able to go back to the past: “Reducing the risks is real, not virtual, only moving from city to village, with housekeeping, will help. Yes, today people have begun to do this, but this is not suitable for everyone, and someone loves the city and is not going to move. And so real changes for all are possible only from above. And from above, no one will change anything. The fact that you change the package to a string bag will not change anything in the world. You need to understand that this is a comprehensive view of the problem, a single person can do little. And his allergy would still overtake him if it had to, and the concentration of pollen would not drop at the snap of a finger. And no one will turn off the plants, and most importantly: few of us understand or know what is really “environmentally friendly” and what is advertised as such.”