Abstract
Outdoor air pollution has been associated with decrements in lung function and growth of lung function in school-age children. Lung function effects have not been examined in preschoolers, with the exception of one study on minute ventilation in newborns. Our goal was to assess the relationship between long- and short-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution and interrupter resistance in 4-year-old children.
Lung function was measured using the interrupter resistance method in children participating in a Dutch birth cohort study. Long-term average air pollution concentrations of fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and soot at the residential address at birth were assessed using land-use regression models. Daily average air pollution concentrations on the day of clinical examination were obtained from the Dutch National Air Quality Monitoring Network.
Significant associations were found between long-term average air pollution concentrations and interrupter resistance. Interrupter resistance increased by 0.04 kPa·s·L−1(95% CI 0.01–0.07) per interquartile range increase (3.3 μg·m−3) in fine particle concentration. Short-term exposure was not associated with interrupter resistance.
Long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution was associated with increased interrupter resistance in 4-year-old children, supporting previous birth cohort studies reporting effects of air pollution on subjectively reported respiratory symptoms in preschool children.
Footnotes
Support Statement
This study was funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development; the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research; the Netherlands Asthma Fund; the Netherlands Ministry of Spatial Planning, Housing and the Environment; and the Netherlands Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.
Statement of Interest
None declared.
- ReceivedFebruary 3, 2012.
- AcceptedJuly 31, 2012.
- ©ERS 2013