Dataset Information

Personal exposures to traffic-related particle pollution among children with asthma in the South Bronx, NY.

ABSTRACT: Personal exposures to fine particulate matter air pollution (PM(2.5)), and to its traffic-related fraction, were investigated in a group of urban children with asthma. The relationships of personal and outdoor school-site measurements of PM(2.5) and elemental carbon (EC) were characterized for a total of 40 fifth-grade children. These students, from four South Bronx, NY schools, each carried air pollution monitoring equipment with them for 24 h per day for approximately 1 month. Daily EC concentrations were estimated using locally calibrated reflectance of the PM(2.5) samples. Personal EC concentration was more closely related to outdoor school-site EC (median subject-specific: r=0.64) than was personal PM(2.5) to school-site PM(2.5) concentration (median subject-specific: r=0.33). Regression models also showed a stronger, more robust association of school site with personal measurements for EC than those for PM(2.5). High traffic pollution exposure was found to coincide with the weekday early morning rush hour, with higher personal exposures for participants living closer to a highway (<500 ft). A significant linear relationship of home distance from a highway with personal EC pollution exposure was also found (up to 1000 ft). This supports the assumptions by previous epidemiological studies using distance from a highway as an index of traffic PM exposure. These results are also consistent with the assumption that traffic, and especially smoke emitted from diesel vehicles, is a significant contributor to personal PM exposure levels in children living in urban areas such as the South Bronx, NY.

SUBMITTER: Spira-Cohen A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4240219 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Personal exposures to traffic-related particle pollution among children with asthma in the South Bronx, NY.

Spira-Cohen Ariel A Chen Lung Chi LC Kendall Michaela M Sheesley Rebecca R Thurston George D GD

Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology 20091028 5

Personal exposures to fine particulate matter air pollution (PM(2.5)), and to its traffic-related fraction, were investigated in a group of urban children with asthma. The relationships of personal and outdoor school-site measurements of PM(2.5) and elemental carbon (EC) were characterized for a total of 40 fifth-grade children. These students, from four South Bronx, NY schools, each carried air pollution monitoring equipment with them for 24 h per day for approximately 1 month. Daily EC concent ...[more]

PMID: 19865073

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Project description:Ambient nitrogen dioxide is a widely available measure of traffic-related air pollution and is inconsistently associated with the prevalence of asthma symptoms in children. The use of this relationship to evaluate the health impact of policies affecting traffic management and traffic emissions is limited by the lack of a concentration-response function based on systematic review and meta-analysis of relevant studies. Using systematic methods, we identified papers containing quantitative estimates for nitrogen dioxide and the 12 month period prevalence of asthma symptoms in children in which the exposure contrast was within-community and dominated by traffic pollution. One estimate was selected from each study according to an a priori algorithm. Odds ratios were standardised to 10 μg/m3 and summary estimates were obtained using random- and fixed-effects estimates. Eighteen studies were identified. Concentrations of nitrogen dioxide were estimated for the home address (12) and/or school (8) using a range of methods; land use regression (6), study monitors (6), dispersion modelling (4) and interpolation (2). Fourteen studies showed positive associations but only two associations were statistically significant at the 5 % level. There was moderate heterogeneity (I2 = 32.8 %) and the random-effects estimate for the odds ratio was 1.06 (95 % CI 1.00 to 1.11). There was no evidence of small study bias. Individual studies tended to have only weak positive associations between nitrogen dioxide and asthma prevalence but the summary estimate bordered on statistical significance at the 5 % level. Although small, the potential impact on asthma prevalence could be considerable because of the high level of baseline prevalence in many cities. Whether the association is causal or indicates the effects of a correlated pollutant or other confounders, the estimate obtained by the meta-analysis would be appropriate for estimating impacts of traffic pollution on asthma prevalence.

Project description:BackgroundMechanisms underlying the effects of traffic-related air pollution on people with asthma remain largely unknown, despite the abundance of observational and controlled studies reporting associations between traffic sources and asthma exacerbation and hospitalizations.ObjectivesTo identify molecular pathways perturbed following traffic pollution exposures, we analyzed data as part of the Atlanta Commuters Exposure (ACE-2) study, a crossover panel of commuters with and without asthma.MethodsWe measured 27 air pollutants and conducted high-resolution metabolomics profiling on blood samples from 45 commuters before and after each exposure session. We evaluated metabolite and metabolic pathway perturbations using an untargeted metabolome-wide association study framework with pathway analyses and chemical annotation.ResultsMost of the measured pollutants were elevated in highway commutes (p < 0.05). From both negative and positive ionization modes, 17,586 and 9087 metabolic features were extracted from plasma, respectively. 494 and 220 unique features were associated with at least 3 of the 27 exposures, respectively (p < 0.05), after controlling confounders and false discovery rates. Pathway analysis indicated alteration of several inflammatory and oxidative stress related metabolic pathways, including leukotriene, vitamin E, cytochrome P450, and tryptophan metabolism. We identified and annotated 45 unique metabolites enriched in these pathways, including arginine, histidine, and methionine. Most of these metabolites were not only associated with multiple pollutants, but also differentially expressed between participants with and without asthma. The analysis indicated that these metabolites collectively participated in an interrelated molecular network centering on arginine metabolism, underlying the impact of traffic-related pollutants on individuals with asthma.ConclusionsWe detected numerous significant metabolic perturbations associated with in-vehicle exposures during commuting and validated metabolites that were closely linked to several inflammatory and redox pathways, elucidating the potential molecular mechanisms of traffic-related air pollution toxicity. These results support future studies of metabolic markers of traffic exposures and the corresponding molecular mechanisms.

Dataset Information

Personal exposures to traffic-related particle pollution among children with asthma in the South Bronx, NY.

Publications

Personal exposures to traffic-related particle pollution among children with asthma in the South Bronx, NY.

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