The Association between Asthma and Allergic Symptoms in Children and Phthalates in House Dust: A Nested Case–Control Study

Global phthalate ester production has increased from very low levels at the end of World War II to approximately 3.5 million metric tons/year. The aim of the present study was to investigate potential associations between persistent allergic symptoms in children, which have increased markedly in developed countries over the past three decades, and the concentration of phthalates in dust collected from their homes. This investigation is a case-control study nested within a cohort of 10,852 children. From the cohort, we selected 198 cases with persistent allergic symptoms and 202 controls without allergic symptoms. A clinical and a technical team investigated each child and her or his environment. We found…

• V
  Vårdalstiftelsen
• SF
  Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas
• V
  Vetenskapsrådet
• AO
  Astma- och Allergiförbundet