Traffic-related air pollution and respiratory health during the first 2 yrs of life

Abstract

As part of an international collaborative study on the impact of TrafficRelated Air Pollution on Childhood Asthma (TRAPCA), the health effects associated with long-term exposure to particles with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 mm (PM2.5), PM2.5 absorbance, and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) were analysed.The German part of the TRAPCA study used data from subpopulations of two ongoing birth cohort studies (German Infant Nutrition Intervention Programme (GINI) and Influences of Lifestyle Related Factors on the Human Immune System and Development of Allergies in Children (LISA)) based in the city of Munich. Geographic information systems (GIS)-based exposure modelling was used to estimate trafficrelated air pollutants at the birth addresses of 1,756 infants. Logistic regression was used to analyse possible health effects and potential confounding factors were adjusted for.The ranges in estimated exposures to PM2.5, PM2.5 absorbance, and NO 2 were 11.9-21.9 mg?m -3 , 1.38-4.39610 -5 m -1 , and 19.5-66.9 mg?m 3 , respectively. Significant associations between these pollutants and cough without infection (odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval (CI)): 1.34 (1.11-1.61), 1.32 (1.10-1.59), and 1.40 (1.12-1.75), respectively) and dry cough at night (OR (95% CI): 1.31 (1.07-1.60), 1.27 (1.04-1.55), and 1.36 (1.07-1.74), respectively) in the first year of life were found. In the second year of life, these effects were attenuated.There was some indication of an association between traffic-related air pollution and symptoms of cough. Due to the very young age of the infants, it was too early to draw definitive conclusions from this for the development of asthma.

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 .…”

Serum Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Among Children with and without Asthma: Correlation to Environmental and Dietary Factors

“…The disease is now reaching epidemic proportions in westernized countries. Living in high traffic areas and exposure specifically to diesel exhaust particles (DEP) have been associated with increased respiratory symptoms and impaired lung function in children [17][18][19][20][21]. DEP is formed mainly of elemental carbon particles to which organic compounds, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are absorbed.…”

Nonallergic respiratory morbidity improved along with a decline of traditional air pollution levels: a review

“…Additional support for the important role which endotoxin exposure might play comes from a cross-sectional study, which found an association between exposure to higher levels of house-dust endotoxin with lower prevalence of allergic sensitisation in children [30]. However, other factors than indoor exposure might also be involved in the development of atopic disease [31,32].…”