Air pollution and childhood respiratory health: Exposure to sulfate and ozone in 10 Canadian Rural Communities

Journal Article · Mon Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1994 · Environmental Research; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1006/enrs.1994.1049· OSTI ID:6755515

Stern, B R; Raizenne, M E; Burnett, R T; Jones, L; Kearney, J; Franklin, C A ^[1]

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1. Environmental Health Directorate, Ottawa, Ontario (Canada)

This study was designed to examine differences in the respiratory health status of preadolescent school children, aged 7-11 years, who resided in 10 rural Canadian communities in areas of moderate and low exposure to regional sulfate and ozone pollution. Five of the communities were located in central Saskatchewan, a low-exposure region, and five were located in southwestern Ontario, an area with moderately elevated exposures resulting from long-range atmospheric transport of polluted air masses. In this cross-sectional study, the child's respiratory symptoms and illness history were evaluated using a parent-completed questionnaire, administered in September 1985. Respiratory function was assessed once for each child in the schools between October 1985 and March 1986, by the measurement of pulmonary function for forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV[sub 1.0]), peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), mean forced expiratory flow rate during the middle half of the FVC curve (FEF[sub 25-75]), and maximal expiratory flow at 50% of the expired vital capacity (V[sub 50]max). After controlling for the effects of age, sex, parental smoking, parental education and gas cooking, no significant regional differences were observed in rates of chronic cough or phlegm, persistent wheeze, current asthma, bronchitis in the past year, or any chest illness that kept the child at home for 3 or more consecutive days during the previous year. Children living in southwestern Ontario had statistically significant (P < 0.01) mean decrements of 1.7% in FVC and 1.3% in FEV[sub 1.0] compared with Saskatchewan children, after adjusting for age, sex, weight, standing height, parental smoking, and gas cooking. There were no statistically significant regional differences in the pulmonary flow parameters (P > 0.05). 54 refs., 1 fig., 7 tabs.

• OSTI ID: 6755515
• Journal Information: Environmental Research; (United States), Journal Name: Environmental Research; (United States) Vol. 66:2; ISSN ENVRAL; ISSN 0013-9351
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540120 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring &amp; Transport-- (1990-)
560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism &amp; Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AGE GROUPS
AIR POLLUTION
ASTHMA
BRONCHITIS
CHILDREN
DISEASE INCIDENCE
DISEASES
DOSE-RESPONSE RELATIONSHIPS
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
OZONE
POLLUTION
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM DISEASES
SULFATES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS