Apparent resistance to fall in forced vital capacity in children with increasing mass level of fine particulate: A physiological phenomenon

Abstract

Forced vital capacity (FVC) of children in the age group 10–12 years are reported as a function of quantum increase in PM_2.5 level in ambient air. The data are reported for the children in the categories based on their respective body mass index (BMI). FVC (% predicted) values decreased with increasing level of PM_2.5. The subjects are found to respond in a selective manner as plateau was observed for FVC values against some selected ranges of PM_2.5 concentration levels (74 µgm⁻³ to >117 µgm⁻³). To explain this unusual behavior, sac theory is proposed which explains the observations of FVC for subjects of all categories with different BMI values.

Keywords:

• Forced vital capacity
• particulate matter concentration
• Sac theory
• children respiratory health
• crop residue burning

Acknowledgments

Authors are thankful to Director, Thapar University, Patiala, for providing support.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Compliance with ethical standards

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) committee with Reference No. 5/8/4-03-Env-1/0-NCD-I and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Written informed consent forms were collected from selected children (duly signed by school authorities and their parents) prior to involvement in study.

Additional information

Funding

Authors acknowledge the research grant provided by Indian Council of Medical Research (Govt. of India) for this research work.