Jensen, S.S. 2008: Individual traffic-related air pollution and new onset adult asthma: A GIS-based pilot study. National Environmental Research Institute, University of Aarhus. 23 pp.- NERI Technical Report No. 665.

 

Summary

The background for the project is that traffic-related air pollution may provoke the onset of asthma. The objective of this pilot study is to investigate the relation between asthma and wheeze debut and individually estimated exposure to traffic-related air pollutants with a validated exposure system (AirGIS).

 

The project applied the following methodology. A non-smoking cohort with recently acquired asthma or wheeze as well as matched controls were identified from a large cross-sectional study. All residential and working addresses with corresponding time periods for a 10 year period were successfully identified for all study participants (N=33). Using AirGIS traffic-related air pollutant levels from both urban background and street level were estimated for the 10 year study period on an hourly basis. Individual levels of air pollutants in the years preceding debut of asthma or wheeze were analyzed using survival analysis.

 

The project showed that accumulated individual median NO² exposure (mg/m³ x hour) for the 10 year study period was 1,145 (asthma cases), 1,268 (wheeze cases) and 1,005 (controls). No significant correlations between exposure levels and onset of disease or symptom were demonstrated. A tendency towards higher levels of nitrogen oxides exposure during the year prior to debut was seen in wheeze cases. Substantial problems in determining time of onset were encountered.

 

This pilot study successfully demonstrated the feasibility of using AirGIS to study correlations between individual traffic-related air pollution exposure and new onset asthma and wheeze.

 

It is recommended that the analytic methods developed in this pilot study are used in a larger prospective cohort to investigate individual traffic-related air pollutants as a risk factor for the development of new asthma and wheeze.

 

Full report  in pdf-format (372 kB)