Using wet wipes raises risk of childhood food allergies

Leaving soap on baby’s skin can lead to an intolerance of certain foods, US study finds

AS ANY parent will attest, baby wipes are the godsend that keeps the mess of child-rearing almost under control.

But scientists have warned that their use is increasing the risk of childhood food allergies.

Researchers have hailed a “major advance” in understanding what causes allergies after tests revealed links between skin damage and intolerance to certain foods. They suggest that use of wet wipes – and an increasing failure by parents to rinse away soap after washing their babies – may be a contributing factor to the rise in childhood food allergies.

The top layer of skin is made of lipids, types of fat, which can be disrupted by soap and soapy chemicals in wipes, the team at Northwestern University found.

If a child carries genes that predispose them to altered skin absorbency, contact with these chemicals heightens risk that comes with exposure to food allergens. The UK has some of the highest prevalence of allergic conditions in the world, with over 20 per cent of people affected, while hospital admissions for anaphylaxis – a potentially fatal allergic reaction – have risen more than 615 per cent in the last 26 years.

Around eight per cent of British children are thought to suffer from a food allergy.

Published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the “recipe” for childhood food allergies was identified by comparing clinical data with genetic mutations which occur in humans and experiments on neonatal mice involving allergen exposure. “They [babies] may not be eating food allergens as a newborn, but they are getting them on their skin,” said Professor Cook-mills, who led the research.

“Say a sibling with peanut butter on her face kisses the baby, or a parent is preparing food with peanuts and then handles the baby.”

He advised: “Reduce baby’s skin exposure to the food allergens by washing your hands before handling the baby. Limit use of infant wipes that leave soap on the skin. Rinse soap off with water like we used to do years ago.”

The neonatal mice in the experiment with the mutations had normal-appearing skin, and the dry, itchy skin of dermatitis did not develop until the mice were a few months old, the equivalent of a young adult in humans.

After the mice received three to four skin exposures of food and dust allergens for 40 minutes during a two-week period, they were then given egg or peanut by mouth.

They suffered allergic reactions at the site of the skin exposure and in the intestine, as well as anaphylaxis.

“This is a recipe for developing food allergy,” said Professor Cook-mills. “It’s a major advance in our understanding of how food allergy starts early in life.”