Abstract
Background Air pollution is associated with asthma development in children and adults, but the impact on asthma development during the transition from adolescence to adulthood is unclear. Adult studies lack historical exposures and consequently cannot assess the relevance of exposure during different periods of life. We assessed the relevance of early-life and more recent air pollution exposure for asthma development from birth until early adulthood.
Methods We used data of 3687 participants of the prospective Dutch PIAMA (Prevention and Incidence of Asthma and Mite Allergy) birth cohort and linked asthma incidence until age 20 years to estimated concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter with a diameter <2.5 μm (PM2.5), <10 μm (PM10), and 2.5–10 μm, and PM2.5 absorbance (“soot”) at the residential address. We assessed overall and age-specific associations with air pollution exposure with discrete time-hazard models, adjusting for potential confounders.
Results Overall, we found higher incidence of asthma until the age of 20 years with higher exposure to all pollutants at the birth address (adjusted odds ratio (95% CI) ranging from 1.09 (1.01–1.18) for PM10 to 1.20 (1.10–1.32) for NO2) per interquartile range increase) that were rather persistent with age. Similar associations were observed with more recent exposure defined as exposure at the current home address. In two-pollutant models with particulate matter, associations with NO2 persisted.
Conclusions Exposure to air pollution, especially from motorised traffic, early in life may have long-term consequences for asthma development, as it is associated with an increased risk of developing asthma through childhood and adolescence into early adulthood.
Abstract
Early-life exposure to air pollution, especially from motorised traffic, may have long-term consequences for asthma development, as it is associated with an increased risk of developing asthma through childhood and adolescence into early adulthood https://bit.ly/39uZHVH
Footnotes
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Conflict of interest: U. Gehring has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: A.H. Wijga has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: G.H. Koppelman reports grants from Lung Foundation of the Netherlands, during the conduct of the study; grants from Tetri Foundation, Ubbo Emmius Foundation, TEVA the Netherlands, Vertex and GSK, institutional fees from GSK, outside the submitted work.
Conflict of interest: J.M. Vonk has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: H.A. Smit has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: B. Brunekreef has nothing to disclose.
Support statement: The research leading to these results has received funding from Dutch Lung Foundation (project number 4.1.14.001). In addition, the PIAMA study was supported by The Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development; The Netherlands Organization 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. Ulrike Gehring was supported by a Grant of The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. Funding information for this article has been deposited with the Crossref Funder Registry.
- Received January 23, 2020.
- Accepted March 20, 2020.
- Copyright ©ERS 2020