Health effects of air pollution due to coal combustion in the Chestnut Ridge region of Pennsylvania: cross-section survey of children
A cross-sectional study of 4071 children aged 6-11 yr of age from a rural region of Western Pennsylvania was conducted in spring of 1979. Standardized children's questionnaires were distributed to the parents and returned by the children to school, where spirometry was performed. The region was divided into low-, moderate-, and high-pollution areas on the basis of the 1974-1978, 3-hr, 24-hr, and annual averages for sulfur dioxide (SO/sub 2/). Seventeen monitoring stations in the region and a triangulation procedure were used to estimate centroid levels in each geographic residence area. After adjusting the respiratory symptom response outcomes and the pulmonary function levels for known predictors, no significant association was noted for level of SO/sub 2/. However, the highest exposure categories were only slightly above the present annual and 24-hr National Air Quality Standards for SO/sub 2/. We conclude that at levels of exposure to which these children were exposed, only by study of potentially sensitive subsets or measures of acute response would it be possible to detect respiratory outcomes associated with ambient air pollution.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of California, Davis
- OSTI ID:
- 5229405
- Journal Information:
- Arch. Environ. Health; (United States), Vol. 2
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Effects of ambient sulfur oxides and suspended particles on respiratory health of preadolescent children
Pulmonary function and respiratory symptoms of school children exposed to ambient air pollution
Related Subjects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
AIR POLLUTION
HEALTH HAZARDS
PENNSYLVANIA
AIR POLLUTION MONITORING
SULFUR DIOXIDE
CHILDREN
COAL
DYNAMIC FUNCTION STUDIES
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE
LUNGS
RURAL AREAS
AGE GROUPS
BODY
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHALCOGENIDES
ENERGY SOURCES
FEDERAL REGION III
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HAZARDS
MATERIALS
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SULFUR OXIDES
USA
560306* - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology- Man- (-1987)
500200 - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)
010900 - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Environmental Aspects