TY - JOUR T1 - Air quality in European classrooms and inflammatory markers in nasal lavage of school children JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 44 IS - Suppl 58 SP - P4122 AU - Hanns Moshammer AU - Dan Norbäck Y1 - 2014/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P4122.abstract N2 - Within the framework of the European project SINPHONIE (Schools Indoor Pollution and Health Observatory Network in Europe), funded by the European Public Health Agency, indoor air quality in a wide range of European schools from 25 countries was assessed and health of the pupils was determined both by questionnaire and by objective medical examinations.Here we first report on findings regarding the association between indoor air quality and selected objective health parameters of children. The age of the children differed between countries with some including even children from kindergartens (starting at 3 years), some including pupils from secondary schools (up to 13 years), but most children were from primary schools aged 6 to 10 years.Ambient monitoring including fine particles (PM2.5), carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, radon, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, formaldehyde, and various volatile organic compounds displayed high variability, but only few objective health end-points were significantly associated with air quality. Namely the tear-film stability (break-up-time) was significantly affected by several air quality indicators.Inflammatory markers in nasal lavage (myeloperoxidase, eosinophilic cationic protein, and lysozyme) were negatively associated with various pollutants. This at first sight paradoxical finding could indicate that moderate oxidative stress does not so much enhance production of these inflammatory markers but might lead to a more rapid consumption of these health-protective chemicals. ER -