Pollution Free Cities: Do Children Living Near Traffic Face A Higher Risk of Diabetes?

Monday, June 10, 2013

Do Children Living Near Traffic Face A Higher Risk of Diabetes?

English: insulin resistance model (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution and insulin resistance in children: results from the GINIplus and LISAplus birth cohorts(9 Page pdf, E. Thiering, J. Cyrys, J. Kratzsch, C. Meisinger, B. Hoffmann, D. Berdel, A. von Berg, S. Koletzko, C.-P. Bauer, J. Heinrich, Diabetologia, Apr. 12, 2013)

Also discussed here: Air Pollution Increases Risk of Insulin Resistance in Children(Science Daily, May 9, 2013)

And here: Why living near a busy road could be dangerous for your child's health: Traffic pollution linked to diabetes risk(Daily Mail, May 10, 2013)

And here: Traffic fumes raise child's diabetes risk(John von Radowitz, Herald, May 10, 2013)

Today we review research that looked at how proximity to emissions of PM and NO2 from traffic the health of school-aged children in Germany. While the link between traffic related pollution and adult diabetes is inconclusive, this study was the first to look at the link with children, given that the health of children, particularly respiratory diseases, tends to be more vulnerable to air pollution and that exposure to environmental pollutants in early childhood can lead to adult diabetes. The results indicate a clear link to PM and NO2 with insulin resistance in children.

Key Quotes:

"Although toxicity differs between air pollutants, they are all considered potent oxidisers that act either directly on lipids and proteins or indirectly through the activation of intracellular oxidant pathways,”

“For every defined step-rise in levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sooty particulate matter (PM) from diesel exhausts, the risk of insulin resistance increased by 17 per cent and 19 per cent respectively. The risk also rose by 7 per cent every 500 yards closer to a major road a child lived.” “this is the first prospective study that investigated the relationship of long-term traffic-related air pollution and insulin resistance in children.”

“Breathing the same pollutant concentrations, children may have a two to four-fold higher dose reaching the lung compared with adults”

“the results of this study support the notion that the development of diabetes in adults might have its origin in early life including environmental exposures.”

“Insulin resistance levels tended to increase with increasing air pollution exposure, and this observation remained robust after adjustment for several factors, including socio-economic status, BMI (body mass index, a measurement relating height and weight), and passive smoking”