Monday, April 8, 2013

The Impact of Air Pollution on Children's Respiratory Diseases World-wide

Ambient particulate air pollution and acute lower respiratory infections: a systematic review and implications for estimating the global burden of disease(15 page pdf, Sumi Mehta, Hwashin Shin, Rick Burnett, Tiffany North & Aaron J. Cohen, Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health, May 21, 2011)

Today we summarize a literature review that examined the link between indoor and outdoor air pollution and respiratory diseases world-wide, with a focus on young children 20% of whom die of this. The sources of the air pollution range from PM 2.5 from combustion to the burning of solid fuels indoors.


resp impact from pm25


Key Quotes:

“Acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) account for nearly one fifth of mortality in young children worldwide and have been associated with exposures to indoor and outdoor sources of combustion-derived air pollution.”

 “ALRI defined as acute cough or difficulty in breathing with indrawing of the lower chest wall necessitating hospital admission" “each 10-μg/m3 increase in long-term ambient PM2.5 concentrations is associated with around a 12% increased risk of ALRI incidence”

“with respect to estimating of the global burden of ALRI attributable to air pollution, are the cohort studies that relate ALRI occurrence to annual average PM2.5 concentrations… PM2.5 is the most consistent and robust indicator of air pollution from combustion sources that can be estimated for all global regions”

“young children exposed to household air pollution from unprocessed household solid fuel use had a 1.8 (95% CI 1.5–2.2) fold greater risk of pneumonia compared to unexposed children”

“The capacity for combustion-derived air pollution to affect resistance to infection is well-documented.. adverse effects of exposure to outdoor air pollution can be estimated even in populations where total exposure to combustion-derived PM is dominated by PM from other sources, including smoking and household air pollution from cooking with solid fuels”

“The cohort studies reviewed here were conducted in developed countries with relatively low levels of air pollution; the highest average PM2.5 concentration reported in these studies is 25 μg/m3, while concentrations in less developed countries can be several times greater”
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