Dataset Information

Children's exposure to nitrogen dioxide in Sweden: investigating environmental injustice in an egalitarian country.

ABSTRACT:

Study objective

Prior studies have shown that children are particularly sensitive to air pollution. This study examined whether children of low socioeconomic status suffered greater exposure to outdoor nitrogen dioxide than more affluent ones, both at their place of residence and at school, in a country with widespread state intervention for social equity.

Design

Local scale data on outdoor nitrogen dioxide obtained from a validated air pollution model were analysed, along with all school children accurately geocoded to their building of residence and school.

Participants

All 29,133 children in grades one through nine (aged 7 to 15 years) residing and attending school in Malmö, Sweden, in 2001.

Main results

Defining the socioeconomic status of children according to the mean income in their residential building, the spatial scan statistic technique allowed the authors to identify eight statistically significant clusters of low socioeconomic status children, all of which were located in the most polluted areas of Malmö. Four clusters of high socioeconomic status children were found, all of them located in the least polluted areas. The neighbourhood socioeconomic status better predicted the nitrogen dioxide exposure of children than the socioeconomic status of their building of residence. Exposure to nitrogen dioxide at the place of residence and school of attendance regularly increased as the socioeconomic status of a child's neighbourhood of residence decreased.

Conclusions

Evidence of environmental injustice was found, even in a country noted for its egalitarian welfare state. Enforcement of environmental regulations may be necessary to achieve a higher level of environmental equity.

SUBMITTER: Chaix B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2465552 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Children's exposure to nitrogen dioxide in Sweden: investigating environmental injustice in an egalitarian country.

Chaix Basile B Gustafsson Susanna S Jerrett Michael M Kristersson Håkan H Lithman Thor T Boalt Ake A Merlo Juan J

Journal of epidemiology and community health 20060301 3

<h4>Study objective</h4>Prior studies have shown that children are particularly sensitive to air pollution. This study examined whether children of low socioeconomic status suffered greater exposure to outdoor nitrogen dioxide than more affluent ones, both at their place of residence and at school, in a country with widespread state intervention for social equity.<h4>Design</h4>Local scale data on outdoor nitrogen dioxide obtained from a validated air pollution model were analysed, along with al ...[more]

PMID: 16476754

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Following the phase-out of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), organophosphate esters (OPEs) have been increasingly used in consumer products and building materials for their flame retardant and plasticizing properties. As a result, human exposure to these chemicals is widespread as evidenced by common detection of their metabolites in urine. However, little is known about the major exposure pathways, or factors that influence children's exposure to OPEs. Furthermore, little data is available on exposure to the novel aryl OPEs. OBJECTIVES:To examine predictors of children's internal exposure, we assessed relationships between OPEs in house dust and on hand wipes and levels of their corresponding metabolites in paired urine samples (n?=?181). We also examined associations between urinary metabolites and potential covariates, including child's age and sex, mother's educational attainment and race, and average outdoor air temperature. METHODS:Children aged 3 to 6?years provided urine and hand wipe samples. Mothers or legal guardians completed questionnaires, and a house dust sample was taken from the main living area during home visits. Alkyl chlorinated and aryl OPEs were measured in dust and hand wipes, and composite urine samples were analyzed for several metabolites. RESULTS:Tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), tris(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP), tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCIPP), 2-ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate (EHDPHP), triphenyl phosphate (TPHP), and 2-isopropylphenyl diphenyl phosphate (2IPPDPP) were detected frequently in hand wipes and dust (>80%), indicating that these compounds were near-ubiquitous in indoor environments. Additionally, bis(1-chloro-2-propyl) 1-hydroxy-2-propyl phosphate (BCIPHIPP), bis(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (BDCIPP), diphenyl phosphate (DPHP), mono-isopropyl phenyl phenyl phosphate (ip-PPP), and mono-tert-butyl phenyl phenyl phosphate (tb-PPP) were detected in >94% of tested urine samples, signifying that TESIE participants were widely exposed to OPEs. Contrary to PBDEs, house dust OPE concentrations were generally not correlated with urinary OPE metabolite levels; however, hand wipe levels of OPEs were associated with internal dose. For example, children with the highest mass of TDCIPP on hand wipes had BDCIPP levels that were 2.73 times those of participants with the lowest levels (95% CI: 1.67, 4.48, p?<?0.0001). Of the variables examined, hand wipe level was the most consistent and strongest predictor of OPE urinary metabolite concentrations. Outdoor air temperature was also a significant predictor of urinary BDCIPP concentrations, with a 1?°C increase in temperature corresponding to a 4% increase in urinary BDCIPP (p?<?0.0001). CONCLUSIONS:OPE exposures are highly prevalent, and data provided herein further substantiate hand-to-mouth contact and dermal absorption as important pathways of OPE exposure, especially for young children.

Project description:BackgroundAmbient air pollution is among the greatest environmental risks to human health. However, little is known about the health effects of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a traffic-related air pollutant. Herein, we aimed to conduct a meta-analysis to investigate the long-term effects of NO2 on mortality.MethodsWe conducted a systematic search for studies that were published up to February 2020 and performed a meta-analysis of all available epidemiologic studies evaluating the associations between long-term exposure to NO2 with all-cause, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality. Overall pooled effect estimates as well as subgroup-specific pooled estimates (e.g. location, exposure assessment method, exposure metric, study population, age at recruitment, and key confounder adjustment) and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using random-effects models. Risk of bias assessment was accessed by following WHO global air quality guidelines. Publication bias was accessed by visually inspecting funnel plot and Egger's liner regression was used to test of asymmetry.ResultsOur search initially retrieved 1349 unique studies, of which 34 studies met the inclusion criteria. The pooled hazard ratio (HR) for all-cause mortality was 1.06 (95%CI: 1.04-1.08, n = 28 studies, I2 = 98.6%) per 10 ppb increase in annual NO2 concentrations. The pooled HRs for cardiovascular and respiratory mortality per 10 ppb increment were 1.11 (95%CI: 1.07-1.16, n = 20 studies, I2 = 99.2%) and 1.05 (95%CI: 1.02-1.08, n = 17 studies, I2 = 94.6%), respectively. The sensitivity analysis pooling estimates from multi-pollutant models suggest an independent effect of NO2 on mortality. Funnel plots indicate that there is no evidence for publication bias in our study.ConclusionWe provide robust epidemiological evidence that long-term exposure to NO2, a proxy for traffic-sourced air pollutants, is associated with a higher risk of all-cause, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality that might be independent of other common air pollutants.

Dataset Information

Children's exposure to nitrogen dioxide in Sweden: investigating environmental injustice in an egalitarian country.

Study objective

Design

Participants

Main results

Conclusions

Publications

Children's exposure to nitrogen dioxide in Sweden: investigating environmental injustice in an egalitarian country.

Similar Datasets

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