Epidemiology
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Adverse respiratory effects in children with asthma are associated with exposures to nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Levels indoors can be much higher than outdoors. Primary indoor sources of NO2 are gas stoves, which are used for cooking by one-third of U.S. households. We investigated the effects of indoor NO2 exposure on asthma severity among an ethnically and economically diverse sample of children, controlling for season and indoor allergen exposure. ⋯ Asthmatic children exposed to NO2 indoors, at levels well below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency outdoor standard (53 ppb), are at risk for increased asthma morbidity. Risks are not confined to inner city children, but occur at NO2 concentrations common in urban and suburban homes.
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There are limited prospective data on long-term exposure to air pollution and effects on childhood respiratory morbidity. We investigated the development of asthma and related symptoms longitudinally over the first 12 years of life in relation to air pollution from road traffic. ⋯ We found modest positive associations between air pollution exposure from traffic during infancy and asthma in children during the first 12 years of life, with stronger effects suggested for nonallergic asthma.
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Evidence based largely on US cohorts suggests that long-term exposure to fine particulate matter is associated with cardiovascular mortality. There is less evidence for other pollutants and for cardiovascular morbidity. By using a cohort of 836,557 patients age 40 to 89 years registered with 205 English general practices in 2003, we investigated relationships between ambient outdoor air pollution and incident myocardial infarction, stroke, arrhythmia, and heart failure over a 5-year period. ⋯ This study of an English national cohort found evidence linking long-term exposure to particulate matter and NO2 with the development of heart failure. We did not, however, replicate associations for other cardiovascular outcomes that have been reported elsewhere.
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Findings from previous cohort studies suggest a positive association between traffic-related air pollution and cardiovascular mortality. However, few studies have assessed intraurban variation in traffic-related pollution or evaluated cardiovascular effects at lower levels of pollution that are typically seen in Canadian cities. ⋯ Traffic-related air pollution at relatively low concentrations in Ontario was associated with increased mortality from cardiovascular disease.