Air Pollution and Respiratory Infections during Early Childhood: An Analysis of 10 European Birth Cohorts within the ESCAPE Project

MacIntyre, Elaina; Gehring, Ulrike; Mölter, Anna; Fuertes, Elaine; Klümper, Claudia; Krämer, Ursula; Quaß, Ulrich; Hoffmann, Barbara; Gascón, Mireia; Brunekreef, Bert; Koppelman, Gerard H.; Beelen, Rob; Hoek, Gerard; Birk, Matthias; Jongste, Johan C. de; Smit, Henriëtte A.; Cyrys, Josef; Gruzieva, Olena; Korek, Michal; Bergström, Anna; Agius, Raymond; Vocht, Frank de; Simpson, Angela; Porta, Daniela; Forastiére, Francesco; Badaloní, Chiara; Cesaroni, Giulia; Esplugues, Ana; Fernández-Somoano, Ana; Lerxundi, Aitana; Sunyer, Jordi; Cirach, Marta; Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark; Pershagen, Göran; Heinrich, Joachim

doi:10.1289/ehp.1306755

Cited by 247 publications

(170 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Modest, but consistent, associations were found between some measures of air pollution and otitis media in a large birth cohort exposed to relatively low levels of ambient air pollution (MacIntyre et al 2011). Consistent evidence was also found for an association between air pollution and pneumonia during early childhood, as well as some evidence for an association with otitis media (MacIntyre et al 2014). Elevated levels of air pollutants increased respiratory tract complaints in children (Altuğ et al 2014).…”

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confidence: 62%

Ambient air quality and the effects of air pollutants on otolaryngology in Beijing

Zhang

et al. 2015

Environ Monit Assess

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To investigate temporal patterns, pollution concentrations and the health effects of air pollutants in Beijing we carried out time-series analyses on daily concentrations of ambient air pollutants and daily numbers of outpatient visits for otolaryngology over 2 years (2011)(2012) to identify possible health effects of air pollutants. The results showed that PM 10 was the major air pollutant in Beijing and that air quality was slightly better in 2012 than in 2011. Seasonal differences were apparent for SO 2 and NO 2 . Both the background and urban areas of Beijing experienced particulate matter pollution in 2011. In addition to local air pollution, Beijing was also affected by pollutants transported from other regions, especially during heavy air pollution episodes. PM 10 , NO 2 , and SO 2 concentrations showed positive associations with numbers of outpatient visits for otolaryngology during winter. NO 2 and SO 2 also had adverse ear, nose, and throat health effects outside of winter. The ear, nose, and throat health risks caused by air pollutants were higher during the winter than during the summer. NO 2 had stronger influence on increased the likelihood of outpatient visits than SO 2 . The findings provide additional information about air quality and health effects of air pollution in Beijing.

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confidence: 62%

Ambient air quality and the effects of air pollutants on otolaryngology in Beijing

Zhang

et al. 2015

Environ Monit Assess

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“…Two Canadian papers found the opposite for both cardiovascular and COPD endpoints (Gan et al, 2010;Gan et al, 2013); in their joint models, BC dominated PM 2.5 . Several of the European papers reported significant associations with PM 2.5 , but not with PM abs in single-pollutant models Cesaroni et al, 2014;Fuks et al, 2014;MacIntyre et al, 2014;Pedersen et al, 2013;Raascshou-Nielsen et al, 2013); hence, within Europe the ESCAPE study appears to suggest that PM 2.5 mass is a better indicator of pollution of concern than PM abs . The Canadian studies suggest the opposite.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ESCAPE studies considered a wide range of health endpoints, including mortality by several cause categories Dimakopoulou et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2014), several morbidity measures MacIntyre et al, 2014;Raaschou-Nielsen et al, 2013;Schikowski et al, 2014;Stafoffia et al, 2014;Fuertes et al, 2014), physiological measures (Fuks et al, 2014;Gehring et al, 2013;Gruzieva et al, 2014), and reproductive measures (Pederen et al, 2013). The results from these studies varied according to the endpoint studied, with cardiovascular endpoints generally showing a significant association with PM 2.5 mass, but not with PM 2.5 absorbance .…”

Section: Epidemiological Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term particulate matter exposure: Attributing health effects to individual PM components

Wyzga

Rohr

2015

Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association

117

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While most in the scientific community are of the opinion that the composition of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) is an important driver of resultant health effects, there is still some degree of uncertainty regarding those components considered to be most harmful. Reviews of the subject from several perspectives have been published, but to our knowledge a comprehensive review of the epidemiological and toxicological literature related to long-term exposure to PM 2.5 components does not exist. We reviewed published epidemiological studies that were of a cohort design, included at least one PM component as well as PM 2.5 mass, and included quantitative analysis to relate health outcomes to individual components. Toxicological studies were included if they were ≥5 months in duration and either included at least one PM component as well as PM mass or focused on a specific PM or emissions type. Overall, we find that epidemiological and toxicological evidence for long-term effects of PM components is limited, in contrast to the short-term literature, which is more plentiful. Epidemiological literature suggests that a number of components are associated with health effects, and that no component is unequivocally not so associated. Toxicological studies that can more easily identify potentially causal components are generally limited to long-term studies using concentrated ambient particles (CAPs), of which few long-term studies exist. Epidemiological study designs that utilize existing monitoring data routinely collected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would be valuable additions to the literature, as would novel toxicological studies that incorporate innovative designs to separate components or groups of components, such as denuders, filtration, or other approaches. From a policy perspective, it is important to more comprehensively investigate this issue so that if particular constituents are determined to be more potent in inducing health effects, their sources can be controlled.Implications: Understanding the components of PM 2.5 that are most harmful to human health is a critical policy issue. This review examined the epidemiological and toxicological literature related to long-term exposure to PM components and found that, unlike the literature on short-term health effects, there is insufficient information to make clear inferences about causal components. There is a need for further research in this area to exploit existing PM monitoring data in epidemiological studies and to design experimental studies that are able to tease out the effects of multiple constituents.

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“…First, it is the reduced environmental harm, particularly in terms of a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, other harmful local air pollutants, traffic noise and the 'urban heat island' effects. As shown by the large-scale European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects Project in Europe, vehicular traffic gives rise to local air pollutants, notably particulate matters (PM), that contribute to various respiratory and cardiovascular disease incidences, especially among young children (Beelen et al, 2014;Cesaroni et al, 2014;Eeftens et al, 2012aEeftens et al, , 2012bGehring et al, 2013;MacIntyre et al, 2014;Raaschou-Nielsen et al, 2013). Sundvor et al (2012: p. 254) reported that 'the range of the traffic contribution to urban PM concentrations in Europe ranges from 9-53% for PM 10 and 9-66% for PM 2·5 with an average of 39% and 43% at traffic sites, respectively and a higher range for NO 2 of over 80%'.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Realising car-free developments within compact cities

Loo

2018

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Municipal E

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Car-free development has been discussed in different parts of the world as a sustainable mobility strategy. Nonetheless, real efforts are limited temporally, such as on annual 'car-free days', and spatially, such as to car-free housing in the suburbs of small-to medium-scale European cities or car-free zones within the central business districts of large cities. The experience of Discovery Bay, Hong Kong, is analysed in this paper to demonstrate that car-free development can and has happened in compact cosmopolitan cities like Hong Kong since the 1980s. The population living in this car-free development reached more than 12 000 in 2014. A virtuous cycle of car-free development, building upon people's underlying environmental and social values, can be sustained by coordinated transport and land use planning to satisfy the diverse needs and through local participation. Nonetheless, many challenges of car encroachment still lie ahead.

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Air Pollution and Respiratory Infections during Early Childhood: An Analysis of 10 European Birth Cohorts within the ESCAPE Project

Cited by 247 publications

References 41 publications

Ambient air quality and the effects of air pollutants on otolaryngology in Beijing

Ambient air quality and the effects of air pollutants on otolaryngology in Beijing

Long-term particulate matter exposure: Attributing health effects to individual PM components

Realising car-free developments within compact cities

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