Pregnant women’s exposure to everyday chemicals could be behind a big rise in allergies, scientists argue.
Compounds increasingly used in make-up and cleaning products could explain why cases of asthma, eczema and other allergies rose fivefold in the past 50 years. Some scientists believe that better hygiene limits children’s exposure to micro-organisms at an age when they could develop resistance. Writing in the British Journal of Dermatology, doctors say that exposure to certain chemicals “during critical windows of development” have also contributed.
Previous studies have shown that mothers in certain jobs where they are exposed to chemicals are more likely