High prevalence of childhood asthma in Northern Israel is linked to air pollution by particulate matter: evidence from GIS analysis and Bayesian Model Averaging

Abstract

The medical records of 3922 school children residing in the Greater Haifa Metropolitan Area in Northern Israel were analyzed. Individual exposure to ambient air pollution (SO(2) and PM(10)) for each child was estimated using Geographic Information Systems tools. Factors affecting childhood asthma risk were then investigated using logistic regression and the more recently developed Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) tools. The analysis reveals that childhood asthma in the study area appears to be significantly associated with particulate matter of less than 10 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM(10)) (Odds Ratio (OR) = .11; P<0.001). However, no significant association with asthma prevalence was found for SO(2) (P >0.2), when PM(10) and SO(2) were introduced into the models simultaneously. When considering a change in PM(10) between the least and the most polluted parts of the study area (9.4 μg/m(3)), the corresponding OR, calculated using the BMA analysis, is 2.58 (with 95% posterior probability limits of OR ranging from 1.52 to 4.41), controlled for gender, age, proximity to main roads, the town of a child's residence, and family's socio-economic status. Thus, it is concluded that exposure to airborne particular matter, even at relatively low concentrations (40-50 μg/m(3)), generally below international air pollution standards (55-70 μg/m(3)), appears to be a considerable risk factor for childhood asthma in urban areas. This should be a cause of concern for public health authorities and environmental decision-makers.

Refining of Asthma Prevalence Spatial Distribution and Visualization of Outdoor Environment Factors Using GIS and Its Application for Identification of Mutual Associations

“…The performed analyses confirmed the associations between asthma prevalence and air pollution published in literature (6,7,25) only in case of Model 3. Surprisingly, there were also associations with land use/land cover, in all three models.…”

“…The most often discussed hazard factors are air pollutants emitted from the traffic and industry. There are connections between asthma occurrence and particulate matter less than 10 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM 10 ) and smaller (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10), NO 2 (5,(11)(12)(13)(14) and SO 2 (6). Generally, the quality of the environment is also affected by other parameters like land use and agricultural production (15,16).…”

“…GIS is used for health data processing, analysis of geographical distribution and variation of diseases mapping, monitoring and management of health epidemics. In addition, this system makes it possible to combine the spatial localization of the monitored disease and layers with information about the quality of the environment (7,10,14,(16)(17)(18)(19).…”

Characterization of Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid-1 (TRPV1) Variant Activation by Coal Fly Ash Particles and Associations with Altered Transient Receptor Potential Ankyrin-1 (TRPA1) Expression and Asthma

“…However, the precise composition of air pollution varies widely by location, often promoting regionally specific effects on human health. In general, inhaled PM tend to cause airway irritation that can negatively impact respiratory conditions such as asthma (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6).…”

Early-Life Air Pollution and Asthma Risk in Minority Children. The GALA II and SAGE II Studies

“…Whereas it is generally accepted that air pollution can aggravate existing asthma, it is less clear whether exposure to air pollutants plays a causal role in the development of asthma. Crosssectional studies have found an association between current air pollution levels and asthma prevalence, implying that pollution may increase the risk for developing asthma (14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23). However, studies that measure the association of air pollution exposures that occur before asthma onset are necessary to evaluate the causality of this association.…”