New Research Suggests That Various Chemicals Commonly Found In Objects Stored In Home Garages Are Associated With An Increased Risk Of ALS
New research from the University of Michigan points to potential hidden dangers in suburban garages – beyond the usual suspects like power saws and tool benches.
According to a recent study from Michigan Medicine, various everyday chemicals commonly kept in home garages may pose a significant health risk and are associated with an increased risk of ALS.
This study builds on a decade of prior research at the University of Michigan. During this time, scientists have increasingly found that exposure to environmental toxins – such as pesticides in agriculture and organic compounds in manufacturing – is linked to the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal motor neuron disease.
Researchers refer to the cumulative buildup of exposure as the “ALS exposome,” which is thought to be possibly linked to recreational activities such as woodworking and gardening.
“Identifying disease-provoking exposures can inform and motivate interventions to reduce exposure, risk, and, ultimately, the ALS burden,” said Dr. Stephen Goutman, the study’s first author.
“Exposures in the home setting are an important part of the ALS exposome, as it is one place where behavior modifications could possibly lessen ALS risk.”
Garages often store items with volatile chemicals, from vehicles like cars and motorcycles to equipment such as chainsaws, as well as solvents, paints, cleaners, and other products.
So, in their study involving over 600 participants with and without ALS, the researchers examined exposures in home environments through statistical analysis.
They discovered that storing chemicals, such as gasoline and gasoline-powered equipment, pesticides, lawn care products, woodworking supplies, and paint, was significantly associated with an increased risk of ALS.
pridannikov – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
All chemicals identified as linked to disease development were found to be volatile and toxic. Most participants also indicated that they stored several of these items in their attached garages, and the study showed that storing chemicals in a detached garage didn’t show a risk association quite as strong.
Moreover, the research team suggested that the movement of air and airborne pollutants from attached garages into living spaces might help explain these results.
Stuart Batterman, a senior author of the study, claimed that, particularly in colder climates, when the door from the garage to the house is opened, garage air tends to rush into the home, and there are nearly continuous air flows through minor cracks and openings in the walls and floors. So, it’s logical that storing volatile chemicals in an attached garage would have a stronger impact.
According to Batterman, recent building codes have worked to tackle this issue by outlining measures to reduce or eliminate air flows.
“We are beginning to see risk factors across multiple settings that may associate with a greater ALS risk; we also see some relationships across the studies, for example, woodworking and woodworking supplies and gardening and lawn care supplies,” he explained.
“This begs the question: is it the activities that are associated with ALS risk or the exposures to related products? This requires further research.”
Back in 2016, the researchers found that individuals with ALS had higher levels of pesticides in their blood compared to those without the disease.
A subsequent 2019 study established a connection between organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and poorer survival rates in ALS patients.
“With each study, we better understand the types of exposures that increase the risk of developing ALS. We now need to build on these discoveries to understand how these exposures increase ALS risk,” concluded Dr. Eva Feldman, another senior author of the study.
“In parallel, we must continue to advocate to make ALS a reportable disease. Only then will we fully understand the array of exposures that increase disease risk.”
To read the study’s complete findings, which have since been published in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration, visit the link here.
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