Air pollution exposure during pregnancy, early life may reduce lung function in childhood
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Exposure to road traffic pollution during pregnancy and early life was associated with a small reduction in lung function at age 8 years, according to data published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
“We found that road-traffic [particulate matter 10 µm in aerodynamic diameter] appeared to be particularly harmful for mid-childhood lung function,” Samuel Yutong Cai, BMed, MSc, PhD, with the MRC Center for Environment and Health, King’s College London, The George Institute for Global Health at University of Oxford, and colleagues wrote. “Associations were larger among boys, as well as children whose mother had a lower education level or smoked during pregnancy.”
Researchers studied the lasting effects of air pollution on respiratory health among 14,541 pregnant women in southwestern England, whose estimated delivery date was from April 1991 to December 1992, and 13,963 children (52% boys). Cai and colleagues examined individual exposures to source-specific particulate matter of 10 µm or less in aerodynamic diameter (PM10) during each trimester, at age 0 to 6 months, age 7 to 12 months and up to 15 years and also compared with FEV1 percent predicted and FVC percent predicted at age 8 years (n = 5,276) and 15 years (n = 3,446).
According to the results, 1 g/m3 higher exposure to PM10 during the first trimester of pregnancy was associated with lower FEV1 percent predicted (–0.826; 95% CI, –1.357 to –0.296) and FVC percent predicted (–0.817; 95% CI, –1.357 to –0.276) at 8 years. The researchers reported similar associations with higher exposure during the second and third trimesters, age 0 to 6 months, age 7 to 12 months and up to age 7 years.
When the researchers analyzed PM10 from all sources, they found that the third trimester was associated with lower FVC percent predicted (–1.312; 95% CI, –2.1 to –0.525).
The researchers observed no adverse associations involving lung function at age 15 years.
Cai and colleagues found no clear evidence of a sensitive exposure period for PM10 for road traffic.
“Although PM10 emissions from diesel vehicles have been declining over the years in the United Kingdom, other traffic-derived pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide, a good proxy of diesel emissions, are still found in high concentration in many U.K. cities,” the researchers wrote. “A stringent policy for controlling road-traffic-related air pollution is required to protect the respiratory health of children and may have long-term benefits for lung health throughout the life course.”