Poisons in the Air: A Cause of Chronic Disease in Children

Abstract

Children represent the largest subpopulation of those susceptible to the adverse effects of air pollution. Compared to adults, children express a greater vulnerability, which can be explained by differences in: the circumstances of exposure related to age, their activities, their child status, differences in lung anatomy and physiology, differences in the clinical expression of disease, and their organ maturity. Many factors have to be assessed in order to evaluate the severity of toxic exposures: pollutant solubility, particle size, concentration, reactivity of pollutants, and pattern of ventilation. Within the numerous air pollutants, some are of special concern for children. For example, ozone has been shown to affect the lungs of healthy school children, especially asthmatics. Airborne particles, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and acid aerosols have also been shown to induce acute respiratory symptoms, asthma, and bronchitis. Of particular importance is carbon monoxide, which, under certain circumstances, may be found in highly toxic concentrations indoors where children spend most of their time. Special attention has to be given to children's unique differences in order to evaluate the clinical consequences of their toxic exposures. This circumstance emphasizes the key roles of poison centers, clinical toxicologists, and pediatricians, all of whom can collaborate on the identification, assessment, and surveillance of toxic risk for child health and development.

Exposure to ambient air pollution and prenatal and early childhood health effects

“…In seven studies a comparison using aggregated population data was carried out, four of them performed comparisons between the mortality rates among different geographical units and the other three are time series studies which evaluated the short term effect of the variations in the levels of air pollutants on the number of deaths at the earliest stages of life. Of the three studies with an individual basis, two have used a retrospective cohort design [7,39] and the other one, cases and controls [40].…”

Breathless: Schools, Air Toxics, and Environmental Justice in California

“…Certain diseases that appear later in childhood (e.g. respiratory illnesses such as asthma) have become an increasingly significant health problem (Leikauf et al 1995;Mannino, Homa, and Pertowski 1998;Mathieu-Nolf 2002. ) and some suggest that hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) or air toxics could be aggravating these conditions (Burg and Gist 1998;Leikauf et al 1995;Ware et al 1993).…”

Children's exposure to nitrogen dioxide in Sweden: investigating environmental injustice in an egalitarian country

“…C hildren constitute the largest part of the population that is susceptible to the adverse effects of air pollution. [1][2][3] This environmental hazard is associated with various health problems among children, 4 5 and with an increased infant mortality. 6 Specifically, nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), the focus of this study, has been shown to be associated with low birth weight 7 and respiratory difficulties among children, including the severity of virally induced asthma symptoms 8 and clinically significant deficiencies in lung function growth.…”