Efeitos da poluição do ar na função respiratória de escolares, Rio de Janeiro, RJ

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:To assess the association between daily exposure to air pollution and lung function in school children. METHODS:Panel study with a random sample of 118 students (between 6 and 15 years of age), enrolled in a public school of the city of Rio de Janeiro, state of Rio de Janeiro, and living within 2 km of the study site. Data on students' characteristics were obtained with a questionnaire, including the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood -ISAAC. Daily peak expiratory fl ow measurements were taken to measure lung function. Daily data on PM10, SO 2 , O 3 , NO 2 and CO levels, temperature and humidity were provided by a portable monitor. Repeated measurements of lung function were associated with pollutant levels with a multilevel model adjusted for time trend, temperature, air humidity, exposure to smoking at home, presence of asthma, height, sex, weight and age of children. RESULTS:Mean peak expiratory fl ow was 243.5 l/m (sd=58.9). The lowest mean peak expiratory fl ow was 124 l/m, and the highest, 450 l/m. For the 10 μg/m³ increase in PM10, there was a 0.34 l/min decrease in mean peak fl ow on the third day. For the 10 μg/m³ increase in NO 2 , there was a decrease between 0.23 l/min and 0.28 l/min in mean peak fl ow after exposure. CO and SO 2 effects on students' peak fl ow were not statistically signifi cant. O 3 showed a protective result: an increase in 10 μg/m³ of O 3 would be associated, after a day of exposure, with a 0.2 l/min increase in mean lung function. CONCLUSIONS:Even within acceptable levels most of the time, air pollution, especially PM10 and NO 2 , was associated with a decrease in lung function in children living in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

Poluentes ambientais e chance de internações por asma em crianças - São José dos Campos, Brasil, nos anos 2004-2005

“…It was not observed relationship of ozone exposure with decreasing pulmonary function in this cited study 9 . These data reinforce those found by Moura et al, in a study with one year time series including children up to 12 years about the role of PM 10 exposure and visits in emergency rooms in a region of Rio de Janeiro 22 .…”

“…In study carried out with students in Rio de Janeiro, there was a protective effect of ozone: the increase of 10μg/m³ of O 3 would be associated, one day after exposure, to an increase of 0.2 l/min in mean lung function and on the other hand, considering the indicator of three days of lag, there was a reduction in mean lung function, though no significant 9 . This situation is known as paradoxical ozone association.…”

“…In Brazil, the relationship between exposure to environmental pollutants and respiratory disease has been studied mainly in large urban centers and medium-size cities 1,[7][8][9][10] .…”

Differential susceptibility according to gender in the association between air pollution and mortality from respiratory diseases

“…These include studies on the effects on overall mortality and that due to specific causes such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases 12,13,14,15,18,19,27,29,30,31,32,33 .…”

“…The majority of these studies have been conducted in large urban areas, especially in the United States and Europe 5,6,7,8,9,10,11 , but little is known about the magnitude of the relative impacts of these pollutants on Brazilian cities, where the studies are concentrated mostly in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Curitiba 12,13,14,15,16,17 . Outside the large Brazilian cities, there has been an increase in the number of studies in the North (Acre State) and Central-West (Mato Grosso and Tocantins…”