Inner City Kids with Asthma Suffer Respiratory Effects at Air Pollution Levels Below Current Standards
A new multi-center study reports that inner-city children with asthma may be particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of air pollution. The study focused on 860 children ages 5-12 who lived in low-income areas of Boston, the Bronx, Chicago, Dallas, New York, Seattle and Tucson. The children in the study had moderate to severe asthma, and most were black or Hispanic. The study involved a larger number of kids and a more comprehensive evaluation of respiratory health effects than earlier studies.Over two years, the researchers regularly monitored the children’s asthma symptoms, breathing function, and school absences, and obtained daily outdoor pollution measurements from the EPA’s monitoring network. Every six months, they tested lung function twice-daily over a two-week period. They also asked the children’s parents for observations of their children’s symptoms.
Results revealed that children had significantly decreased lung function following exposure to higher concentrations of the air pollutants sulfur dioxide, fine particles, and nitrogen dioxide. Higher nitrogen dioxide levels and higher levels of fine particles also were associated with school absences related to asthma, and higher nitrogen dioxide levels were associated with more asthma symptoms. Because nitrogen dioxide is derived mainly from motor vehicle exhaust, these data provide evidence that car emissions may be causing adverse respiratory health effects in these urban children who have asthma.
The study reported that short-term increases in air pollution at concentrations below the National Ambient Air Quality Standards were associated with adverse respiratory health effects. “Given the high prevalence of asthma in urban communities, these findings have important implications for air quality regulation and urban transportation policy,” conclude the researchers. “Efforts to reduce air pollution in U.S. cities are warranted to protect the health of children with asthma.”
The abstract is available online:
http://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(08)00407-7/abstract?search_preview=no&search_reqfirst=1&select2=no&select2=no
O’Connor GT, Neas L, Vaughn B, Katttan M, Mitchell H, Crain EF, Evans III R, Gruchalla R, Morgan W, Stout J, Adams GK, Lippmann M. Acute respiratory health effects of air pollution on children with asthma in US inner cities. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2008; Article in press doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2008.02.020.
