Chest
Original ResearchEffect of Particulate Air Pollution on Lung Function in Adult and Pediatric Subjects in a Seattle Panel Study
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
We performed a 3-year panel study (from 1999 to 2002) in Seattle that evaluated cardiac and respiratory effects of personal, indoor, and outdoor measures of air pollution in 57 elderly subjects who were either healthy or had respiratory or cardiac disease. We also studied 17 children with asthma. The experimental design and exposure monitoring methods are described below. A detailed discussion of the exposure assessment methods and results has been published previously.12
Subjects were recruited
Adult Subjects
A total of 57 subjects (24 with COPD and 33 without COPD) were included in this analysis. The COPD subjects ranged in age from 65 to 89 years; non-COPD subjects were 56 to 88 years old. The median age for both groups was 76 years. Many of the subjects (33%) enrolled for more than one session (10-day monitoring period). The median percentage of predicted FEV1 at screening for the subjects was 56% for COPD subjects and 100% for non-COPD subjects. The percentage of predicted FEV1 value for two
Discussion
This study found decrements in lung function associated with PM exposure in both elderly adults with COPD and children with asthma. Associations were strongest for central site PM2.5 and FEV1 in adults with COPD. PEF results in this group are consistent with those for FEV1, but the association is weaker. Unfortunately, the association between PM and MMEF could not be tested in the adults since the lung function instrument used by those subjects measured only FEV1 and PEF. The absence of a
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors thank the research study volunteers and the parents of the pediatric group for participating. We are grateful to Tim Gould and Liz Tuttle for study coordination and related exposure monitoring activities, and numerous field technicians. We wish to acknowledge Therese Hinton for her efforts recruiting pediatric subjects, Matthew Budge for subject screening and enrollment activities, the staff at Northwest Asthma and Allergy Clinic in Seattle for accommodating our researchers during
References (32)
- et al.
Pulmonary function changes in children associated with fine particulate matter
Environ Res
(1993) - et al.
Inflammation of small airways in asthma
J Allergy Clin Immunol
(1997) - et al.
FEV1is associated with risk of asthma attacks in a pediatric population
J Allergy Clin Immunol
(2001) - et al.
Acute health effects of PM10pollution on symptomatic and asymptomatic children
Am Rev Respir Dis
(2002) - et al.
Effects of air pollution on the respiratory health of asthmatic children living in Mexico City
Am J Respir Crit Care Med
(1996) - et al.
Fine particles are more strongly associated than coarse particles with acute respiratory health effects in schoolchildren
Epidemiology
(2000) - US EPA. Air quality criteria for particulate matter. Research Triangle Park, NC: Office of Research and Development...
- et al.
Association of FEV1in asthmatic children with personal and microenvironmental exposure to airborne particulate matter
Environ Health Perspect
(2004) - et al.
Modulation of the acute respiratory effects of winter air pollution by serum and dietary antioxidants: a panel study
Eur Respir J
(1999) - et al.
Acute effects of air pollution on respiratory health of 50–70 yr old adults
Eur Respir J
(2000)
Exposure of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients to particles and respiratory and cardiovascular health effects
J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol
Number concentration and size of particles in urban air: effects on spirometric lung function in adult asthmatic subjects
Environ Health Perspect
Effects of ambient air pollution on symptoms of asthma in Seattle-area children enrolled in the CAMP study
Environ Health Perspect
Exposure assessment of particulate matter for susceptible populations in Seattle
Environ Health Perspect
The physiology of small airways
Am J Respir Crit Care Med
Comparison of light scattering devices and impactors for particulate measurements in indoor, outdoor, and personal environments
Environ Sci Technol
Cited by (0)
Reproduction of this article is prohibited without written permission from the American College of Chest Physicians (www.chestjournal.org/misc/reprints.shtml)
This article does not necessarily reflect the views of the EPA, and no official endorsement should be inferred.
Financial support was provided by EPA grants R827355 and R827177, and the University of Washington National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Center for Ecogenetics and Environmental Health grant P30ES07033.