EFFECTS OF AMBIENT SULFUR-OXIDES AND SUSPENDED PARTICLES ON RESPIRATORY HEALTH OF PREADOLESCENT CHILDREN

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  • 1 May 1986
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 133  (5) , 834-842
Abstract
Reported here are the results from an ongoing study of outdoor air pollution and respiratory health of children living in six cities in the eastern and midwestern United States. The study enrolled 10,106 white preadolescent children between 1974 and 1977 in 3 successive annual visits to each city. Each child received a spirometric examination, and a parent completed a standard questionnaire. Of this cohort, 8,380 children were seen for a second examination 1 yr later. An air pollution monitoring program was begun in each community at about the time of the first examination. For this report, measurements of total suspended particulates (TSP), the sulfate fraction of TSP (TSO4), and sulfur dioxide (SO4) concentrations at study-affiliated outdoor stations were combined with measurements at other public and private monitoring sites to create a record of TSP, TSO4, and SO2 concentrations in each of 9 air pollution regions during the 1-yr period preceding each examination and, for TSP, during each child''s lifetime up to the time of testing. Across the 6 cities, frequency of cough was significantly associated with the average of 24-h mean concentrations of all 3 air pollutants during the year preceding the health examination (p < 0.01). Rates of bronchitis and a composite measure of lower respiratory illness were significantly associated with average particulate concentrations (p < 0.05). In analyses restricted to lifetime residents, these outcomes were significantly associated with measures of lifetime mean TSP concentration. Within the cities, however, temporal and spatial variation in air pollutant concentrations and illness and symptom rates were not positively associated. Early childhood respiratory illness history of lifetime residents was not consistenly associated with average TSP concentrations during the first 2 yr of life. Pulmonary function parameters (FVC and FEV1) were not associated either with pollutant concentrations during the year preceding the pulmonary function test or, for lifetime residents, with lifetime average concentrations. These results suggest that, for preadolescent children, exposure to moderately elevated concentrations of pollutants believed to be representative of emissions from combustion of fossil fuels increases risk for bronchitis and some other respiratory disorders, but has little or no effect on pulmonary function level. The strong association between TSO4 concentrations and other measures of ambient fine particle concentration implies that these results are relevant to the health effects of fine particular air pollution. Follow-up of these children is continuing, and analyses of the longitudinal health data, along with the more extensive aerometric data collected in later years, will aid in the interpretation of these results.