Journal Article

Long-Term Exposure to Primary Traffic Pollutants and Lung Function in Children: Cross-Sectional Study and Meta-Analysis

Beevers, Sean, Kelly, Frank J., Dent, Jennifer E., Barone-Adesi, Francesco, Dajnak, David, Cook, Derek G., Anderson, H Ross, Whincup, Peter H.

2015

Overview

There is widespread concern about the possible health effects of traffic-related air pollution. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a convenient marker of primary pollution. We investigated the associations between lung function and current residential exposure to a range of air pollutants (particularly NO2, NO, NOx and particulate matter) in London children. Moreover, we placed the results for NO2 in context with a meta-analysis of published estimates of the association. Associations between primary traffic pollutants and lung function were investigated in 4884 children aged 9-10 years who participated in the Child Heart and Health Study in England (CHASE). A systematic literature search identified 13 studies eligible for inclusion in a meta-analysis. We combined results from the meta-analysis with the distribution of the values of FEV1 in CHASE to estimate the prevalence of children with abnormal lung function (FEV1<80% of predicted value) expected under different scenarios of NO2 exposure. In CHASE, there were non-significant inverse associations between all pollutants except ozone and both FEV1 and FVC. In the meta-analysis, a 10 μg/m3 increase in NO2 was associated with an 8 ml lower FEV1 (95% CI: -14 to -1 ml; p: 0.016). The observed effect was not modified by a reported asthma diagnosis. On the basis of these results, a 10 μg/m3 increase in NO2 level would translate into a 7% (95% CI: 4% to 12%) increase of the prevalence of children with abnormal lung function. Exposure to traffic pollution may cause a small overall reduction in lung function and increase the prevalence of children with clinically relevant declines in lung function.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Air Pollution / Asthma / Asthma - epidemiology / Bias / Child / Children / Children & youth / Cross-sectional studies / Epidemiology / Exposure / Female / Heart / Humans / Inhalation Exposure - adverse effects / Inhalation Exposure - statistics & numerical data / Lungs / Male / Medical research / Meta-analysis / Nitrogen dioxide / Nitrogen Dioxide - toxicity / Outdoor air quality / Ozone / Particulate matter / Particulate Matter - toxicity / Pollutants / Pollution / Pollution effects / Population / Pulmonary Ventilation / Respiratory function / Schools / Studies / Systematic review / Thorax / Traffic / Vehicle Emissions - toxicity