Wintertime Air Pollution Does Not Provoke Asthma
Researchers followed a panel of 41 predominantly African-American children with moderate to severe asthma over 3 consecutive winters.
The children, ages 6-12, were enrolled in a school operated by the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, Colorado.
Levels of criteria air pollutants were measured daily, with concurrent monitoring of lung function, bronchodilator use by inhaler and nebulizer, symptoms, and asthma exacerbations. Fifteen of the children participated in all three years of the study.
Air pollution concentrations were below the levels of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. After controlling for upper respiratory infections, daily variability in ambient air pollutant concentrations was not associated with significant increases in asthma severity, except for a weak association between carbon monoxide and bronchodilator use.
Researchers noted that the children in the study spent much of their time indoors to avoid the colder temperatures. A follow-up study will examine the role of summertime ozone on children with asthma.
Rabinovitch N, Zhang L, Murphy JR, Vedal S, Dutton SJ, Gelfand EW. Effects of wintertime ambient air pollutants on asthma exacerbations in urban minority children with moderate to severe disease. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2004; 114:1131-1137.
The National Library of Medicine [www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/] offers the abstract online.
