Exposure to traffic air pollution at an early age can have a negative impact on the lung function of children, a new study from Sweden says.
The study published in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine looked at 1,900 children and found air pollution in infancy leading to lung function impairments by age eight.
"Earlier studies have shown that children are highly susceptible to the adverse effects of air pollution and suggest that exposure early in life may be particularly harmful," said Dr. Göran Pershagen, professor at the Karolinska Institutet of Environmental Medicine in Stockholm, Sweden, in a news release.
Pershagen and colleagues followed all the participants from birth to age eight and the investigators collected information through questionnaires, conducted tests spirometry (test that measure lung function) and immunoglobulin E (test for allergies).
Apart from these, the children's exposure to air pollution was measured at their residence, day care or school using dispersion modeling (mathematical simulation of how air pollutants disperse in the ambient atmosphere)
At the end of the study, the researchers found a high exposure to particulate matter from road traffic during first year weakening the lung function of the children, especially boys, children sensitive to inhalant or food allergens and with asthma by eight.
"In our prospective birth cohort study in a large population of Swedish children, exposure to traffic-related air pollution during infancy was associated with decreases in lung function at age eight, with stronger effects indicated in boys, children with asthma and particularly in children sensitized to allergens," Pershagen said. "These results add to a large body of evidence demonstrating the detrimental effects of air pollution on human health."
