Abstract
Early life is a crucial period for organ development and especially vulnerable to the effects of environmental exposures. The effects of multiple urban environmental exposures in specific early-life periods on lung function and asthma are not fully clear.
We aimed to examine the associations of urban environmental exposures in utero and childhood with lung function and asthma at school age.
We included 5,633 mother-child pairs from the Generation R birth cohort. Urban environmental exposures were calculated at the home address of the mother during pregnancy and childhood, including air pollution, traffic, built environment, natural spaces, noise, and socioeconomic factors. Lung function was measured by spirometry and asthma was assessed from a questionnaire at 10 years of age. Associations were assessed by ExWAS considering exposures independently and dependently clustering multiple exposures to identify subjects with a similar exposure pattern.
Preliminary results showed an association of in utero exposure to increasing blue space size (e.g. lake) with an increased z-score of forced expiratory volume in 1s (FEV1) (z-score change=0.02, 95%CI=0.00, 0.04) at school-age. No associations of in utero urban environmental exposures with current asthma were observed. Five in utero exposure clusters were identified. Compared to the cluster with less harmful exposures, children born in less natural and more urban areas tended to have lower FEV1 and higher odds of asthma (OR=1.27 95%CI=0.92, 1.78). Children born in less natural, noisier and more polluted areas tended to have lower FEV1 (z-score change=-0.07 95%CI=-0.18, 0.03). Final results including childhood urban exposures will be presented.
Footnotes
Cite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2021; 58: Suppl. 65, OA2959.
This abstract was presented at the 2021 ERS International Congress, in session “Prediction of exacerbations in patients with COPD”.
This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).
- Copyright ©the authors 2021