The effects of air pollution on respiratory health in susceptible populations: a multilevel study in Bucaramanga, Colombia

Abstract

We conducted a cohort study to investigate the association between exposure to three different levels of outdoor air pollution and incidence of respiratory symptoms in a population with chronic cardiovascular and respiratory disease. We accompanied 756 participants for a period of six months through the maintenance of a daily record of symptoms and clinic visits. The symptoms with highest incidence rates were sneezing and hacking cough. Multivariate analysis showed that incidence of total symptoms was 60% and 74% lower in areas with medium and low levels of pollution compared to areas with high levels of pollution. These results suggest that negative respiratory effects occur at concentrations of particulate matter PM10 > 60ug/m³.

Short-Term Effects of Air Pollution on Respiratory and Circulatory Morbidity in Colombia 2011–2014: A Multi-City, Time-Series Analysis

“…Some of the studies that have been conducted in Colombia have evaluated the effect of air pollution on respiratory health with specific population samples [10,11,12]. One such study, which estimated the effect of airborne particulate matter 10 μm or less in diameter (PM 10 ) on mortality at the population level for the city of Bogota, reported that exposure to high levels of PM 10 is associated with an increase in respiratory and cardiovascular mortality, especially for persons from low socio-economic strata [13,14].…”

Decrease in Respiratory Function and Electron Transport Chain Induced by Airborne Particulate Matter (PM10) Exposure in Lung Mitochondria

“…Epidemiological evidence sustains a positive association between PM 10 exposure and the increase in cardiovascular diseases (Tonne et al 2012; Pieters et al 2012) and asthma (Delamater, Finley, and Banerjee 2012) on one hand and decrease in gestational age at birth on the other hand (van den Hooven et al 2012). Also, PM 10 exposure is associated with respiratory illness (Rodriguez-Villamizar, Castro-Ortiz, and Rey-Serrano 2012), decrease in lung function (Roy et al 2012), higher blood pressure in children (Sughis et al 2012), increase in hospital admission in aged people (Di Ciaula 2012), and increase in the risk of diabetes complications (Dales et al 2012). The mechanism of cell damage induced by PM 10 exposure has been investigated and the increase in ROS generation is one of the mechanisms involved in its cytotoxicity (Chirino et al 2010).…”

Contrary Perceptions of Environmental Health and the Governance of the Bucaramanga Metropolitan Area, Colombia

“…Bucaramanga also has an important tradition of studies on air pollution-related adverse effects. The first studies identified respiratory signs and symptoms among susceptible populations [16,17], and the more recent have reported a cluster of cases of childhood cancer, possibly associated with air emissions from an industry in the north of the city [18].…”