Published online before print
January 24, 2007, 10.1183/09031936.00083406
Eur Respir J 2007; 29:879-888
Copyright ©ERS Journals Ltd 2007
Air pollution and development of asthma, allergy and infections in a birth cohort
M. Brauer1,
G. Hoek2,
H. A. Smit3,
J. C. de Jongste4,
J. Gerritsen5,
D. S. Postma6,
M. Kerkhof7 and
B. Brunekreef2
1 University of British Columbia, School of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, Vancouver, BC, Canada. 2 Utrecht University, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences and Julius Centre for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, 3 Centre for Prevention and Health Services Research, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, 4 Dept of Paediatrics, Division of Respiratory Medicine, Erasmus Medical Centre - Sophia Children's Hospital, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, and 5 Depts of Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, 6 Pulmonology, and 7 Epidemiology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
CORRESPONDENCE: M. Brauer, University of British Columbia, School of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, 2206 East Mall, Vancouver BC V6T1Z3, Canada. Fax: 1 6048229588. E-mail: brauer{at}interchange.ubc.ca
Keywords: Air pollution, allergy, asthma, respiratory infections, vehicle emissions
Received: June 26, 2006
Accepted December 25, 2006
Few studies have addressed associations between traffic-related air pollution and respiratory disease in young children. The present authors assessed the development of asthmatic/allergic symptoms and respiratory infections during the first 4 yrs of life in a birth cohort study (n = 4,000).
Outdoor concentrations of traffic-related air pollutants (nitrogen dioxide PM2.5, particles with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 µm and soot) were assigned to birthplace home addresses with a land-use regression model. They were linked by logistic regression to questionnaire data on doctor-diagnosed asthma, bronchitis, influenza and eczema and to self-reported wheeze, dry night-time cough, ear/nose/throat infections and skin rash. Total and specific immunoglobulin (Ig)E to common allergens were measured in a subgroup (n = 713).
Adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) per interquartile pollution range were elevated for wheeze (1.2 (1.01.4) for soot), doctor-diagnosed asthma (1.3 (1.01.7)), ear/nose/throat infections (1.2 (1.01.3)) and flu/serious colds (1.2 (1.01.4)). No consistent associations were observed for other end-points. Positive associations between air pollution and specific sensitisation to common food allergens (1.6 (1.22.2) for soot), but not total IgE, were found in the subgroup with IgE measurements.
Traffic-related pollution was associated with respiratory infections and some measures of asthma and allergy during the first 4 yrs of life.
This article has been cited by other articles:

|
 |

|
 |
 
L. Modig, K. Toren, C. Janson, B. Jarvholm, and B. Forsberg
Vehicle exhaust outside the home and onset of asthma among adults
Eur. Respir. J.,
June 1, 2009;
33(6):
1261 - 1267.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
K G Harley, J M Macher, M Lipsett, P Duramad, N T Holland, S S Prager, J Ferber, A Bradman, B Eskenazi, and I B Tager
Fungi and pollen exposure in the first months of life and risk of early childhood wheezing
Thorax,
April 1, 2009;
64(4):
353 - 358.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
F. D. Gilliland
Outdoor Air Pollution, Genetic Susceptibility, and Asthma Management: Opportunities for Intervention to Reduce the Burden of Asthma
Pediatrics,
March 1, 2009;
123(Supplement_3):
S168 - S173.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
J Chang, R J Delfino, D Gillen, T Tjoa, B Nickerson, and D Cooper
Repeated respiratory hospital encounters among children with asthma and residential proximity to traffic
Occup. Environ. Med.,
February 1, 2009;
66(2):
90 - 98.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
T. Gotschi, J. Sunyer, S. Chinn, R. de Marco, B. Forsberg, J. W Gauderman, R. Garcia-Esteban, J. Heinrich, B. Jacquemin, D. Jarvis, et al.
Air pollution and lung function in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey
Int. J. Epidemiol.,
December 1, 2008;
37(6):
1349 - 1358.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
P. Franklin
Household chemicals: good housekeeping or occupational hazard?
Eur. Respir. J.,
March 1, 2008;
31(3):
489 - 491.
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
R. van Gent, L. E. M. van Essen-Zandvliet, M. M. Rovers, J. L. L. Kimpen, G. de Meer, and C. K. van der Ent
Poor perception of dyspnoea in children with undiagnosed asthma
Eur. Respir. J.,
November 1, 2007;
30(5):
887 - 891.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|
Copyright © 2007 by the European Respiratory Society.
|