Respiratory health and individual estimated exposure to traffic-related air pollutants in a cohort of young children

Abstract

Objectives: To estimate long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollutants on an individual basis and to assess adverse health effects using a combination of air pollution measurement data, data from geographical information systems (GIS) and questionnaire data. Methods: 40 measurement sites in the city of Munich, Germany were selected at which to collect particulate matter with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 mm (PM 2.5 ) and to measure PM 2.5 absorbance and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ). A pool of GIS variables (information about street length, household and population density and land use) was collected for the Munich metropolitan area and was used in multiple linear regression models to predict traffic-related air pollutants. These models were also applied to the birth addresses of two birth cohorts (German Infant Nutritional Intervention Study (GINI) and Influence of Life-style factors on the development of the Immune System and Allergies in East and West Germany (LISA)) in the Munich metropolitan area. Associations between air pollution concentrations at birth address and 1-year and 2-year incidences of respiratory symptoms were analysed. Results: The following means for the estimated exposures to PM 2.5 , PM 2.5 absorbance and NO 2 were obtained: 12.8 mg/m 3 , 1.7610 25 m 21 and 35.3 mg/m 3 , respectively. Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for wheezing, cough without infection, dry cough at night, bronchial asthma, bronchitis and respiratory infections indicated positive associations with traffic-related air pollutants. After controlling for individual confounders, significant associations were found between the pollutant PM 2.5 and sneezing, runny/stuffed nose during the first year of life (OR 1.16, 95% confidence interval 1.01 to 1.34) Similar effects were observed for the second year of life. These findings are similar to those from our previous analysis that were restricted to a subcohort in Munich city. The extended study also showed significant effects for sneezing, running/stuffed nose. Additionally, significant associations were found between NO 2 and dry cough at night (or bronchitis) during the first year of life. The variable ''living close to major roads'' (,50 m), which was not analysed for the previous inner city cohort with birth addresses in the city of Munich, turned out to increase the risk of wheezing and asthmatic/spastic/obstructive bronchitis. Conclusions: Effects on asthma and hay fever are subject to confirmation at older ages, when these outcomes can be more validly assessed.

Effects of fine particles on children’s hospital admissions for respiratory health in Seville, Spain

“…The scatter plots of the daily mean temperature do not show the V form seen in other works in which the maximum temperature is considered, such as in Morgenstern et al (2007). This implies that is not necessary to separate the temperature variable into two groups, hot and cold days.…”

“…Subsequently, lagged variables were created, as the effect between the independent and dependent variables may not be simultaneous in time (Morgenstern et al, 2007). This variable was constructed by totaling the hospital admissions over 5 days because some of the admissions can occur first through the emergency department and then to hospitalization, mainly at the weekends.…”

Health effects of air pollution observed in cohort studies in Europe

“…In a collaborative study, within-city contrasts in PM 2.5 , black smoke and NO 2 were examined and modelled to provide exposure assessment for ongoing epidemiologic studies on development of allergy and asthma in young children (Brauer et al, 2003). Significant associations have been reported from these studies so far on symptoms of wheeze, upper and lower respiratory symptoms, allergic sensitisation and otitis media (Brauer et al, 2002(Brauer et al, , 2006(Brauer et al, , 2007Gehring et al, 2002;Morgenstern et al, 2007). Table 3 provides some quantitative effect estimates from these studies expressed per 10 mg/m 3 NO 2 .…”

A rapid assessment of the impact of hazard reduction burning around Sydney, May 2016

“…If these findings are corroborated by further studies, this would significantly increase the burden related to air pollution, given the increase of these diseases in ageing populations. More work is needed to disentangle which component(s) of the air pollution mixture drive the associations.Birth cohort studies in Europe and elsewhere published since 2005 have reported significant associations between exposure to PM 2.5 and respiratory infections and asthma in young children (Brauer et al, 2007;Gehring et al, 2010;MacIntyre et al, 2011;Morgenstern et al, 2007). Several studies have found an association between PM 2.5 and infant bronchiolitis, an important risk for hospitalization (Karr et al, 2007(Karr et al, , 2009a.…”