Abstract
Evidence for effects of air pollution exposure on lung function growth into adolescence is scarce. We investigated associations of air pollution exposure with lung function and lung function growth until age 16.
We conducted longitudinal (N=915) and cross-sectional analyses (N=721) of associations of air pollution exposure with forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) growth from ages 8 to 16 and FEV1 and FVC at age 16. We estimated residential concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), “soot”, and particulate matter with diameters <2.5 (PM2.5), <10 (PM10), and 2.5–10 µm (PMcoarse) during the preschool, primary school and secondary school time windows by land use regression models and analysed associations with (growth in) FEV1 and FVC by linear (mixed effects) regression.
Higher air pollution exposure was associated with reduced FEV1 growth, [e.g. adjusted difference (95% confidence interval) −0.26% (−0.49 to −0.03%) per interquartile range increase in secondary school PM2.5] and lower FEV1 [−2.36% (−3.76 to −0.94%)], but was not adversely associated with FVC. Associations with FEV1 were stronger in boys than girls and were not modified by asthma status.
Higher air pollution exposure may lead to increased airway obstruction, but not reduced lung volume in adolescence.
Footnotes
This manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the European Respiratory Journal. It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJ online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Koppelman reports grants from Lung Foundation of the Netherlands, during the conduct of the study; grants from Lung Foundation of the Netherlands, grants from Ubbo Emmius Foundation, grants from TETRI Foundation, grants from TEVA the Netherlands, outside the submitted work.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Smit has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Wijga has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Ing. oldenwening has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Vonk has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. BRUNEKREEF has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Gehring has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. MILANZI has nothing to disclose.
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