Air Pollution Effects on Ventilatory Function of US Schoolchildren

Abstract

The ventilatory performance of elementary schoolchildren living in neighborhoods of high and low air pollution in Cincinnati, Chattanooga, and New York was evaluated by in-school measurements of three-quar- ter second forced expiratory volume (FEV_0.75). A consistent relationship between impaired ventilatory function in children 5 to 13 years of age and exposure to particulates plus sulfur oxide was demonstrated. In the Cincinnati study, performance of children in polluted neighborhoods improved during seasons of low pollution but not to the level of their counterparts in low exposure neighborhoods. In New York, results in children age 9 to 13 years indicate that early exposure for five to ten years to elevated air pollution levels was accompanied by a prolonged decrement in ventilatory function. Inconsistent and barely significant effects on lung function were found in Chattanooga where high exposures to nitrogen dioxide had occurred for only two to three years prior to the study.