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Nazar W, Niedoszytko M. Air Pollution in Poland: A 2022 Narrative Review with Focus on Respiratory Diseases. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19020895. [PMID: 35055718 PMCID: PMC8775633 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19020895] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Revised: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 01/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
According to the World Bank Group, 36 of the 50 most polluted cities in the European Union are in Poland. Thus, ambient air pollution and its detrimental health effects are a matter of immense importance in Poland. This narrative review aims to analyse current findings on air pollution and health in Poland, with a focus on respiratory diseases, including COVID-19, as well as the Poles’ awareness of air pollution. PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar databases were searched. In total, results from 71 research papers were summarized qualitatively. In Poland, increased air pollution levels are linked to increased general and respiratory disease mortality rates, higher prevalence of respiratory diseases, including asthma, lung cancer and COVID-19 infections, reduced forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC). The proximity of high traffic areas exacerbates respiratory health problems. People living in more polluted regions (south of Poland) and in the winter season have a higher level of air pollution awareness. There is an urgent need to reduce air pollution levels and increase public awareness of this threat. A larger number of multi-city studies are needed in Poland to consistently track the burden of diseases attributable to air pollution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wojciech Nazar
- Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Gdańsk, Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie 3a, 80-210 Gdańsk, Poland
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +48-530-087-968
| | - Marek Niedoszytko
- Department of Allergology, Medical University of Gdańsk, Smoluchowskiego 17, 80-214 Gdańsk, Poland;
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Majewska R, Pac A, Mróz E, Spengler J, Camann D, Mrozek-Budzyn D, Sowa A, Jacek R, Wheelock K, Perera FP. Lung function growth trajectories in non-asthmatic children aged 4-9 in relation to prenatal exposure to airborne particulate matter and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons - Krakow birth cohort study. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2018; 166:150-157. [PMID: 29886391 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2018.05.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2018] [Revised: 05/29/2018] [Accepted: 05/30/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Patterns of lung function development during childhood can be helpful in understanding the pathogenesis of respiratory diseases. A variety of environmental and lifestyle factors, present from the prenatal period to adulthood, may affect or modulate lung function growth. The aim of this study was to investigate, the associations between individual growth trajectories of children's lung function during childhood and prenatal exposure to airborne fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), which were hypothesized to adversely affect spirometry parameters. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study group comprised 294 non-asthmatic, full term children from the Krakow birth cohort, who underwent annual spirometry testing at the ages of 4-9 years. Individual personal air monitoring of PM2.5 and PAH were performed over 48 h in the second trimester of pregnancy. Possible confounders or modifiers such as child's gender, height, atopic status and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) were considered. Polynomial multilevel mixed models were used to assess the growth rates of children's lung functions. RESULTS Lung function trajectories differed significantly for boys and girls for FVC, FEV1 and FEF25-75. Girls had lower rates of increase than boys: - 20.5 (95%CI: - 32.4; - 8.6) ml/year (FVC); - 19.9 (95%CI: -30.7;-9.0) ml/year (FEV1); and - 32.5 (95%CI: - 56.9; - 8.2) ml/year (FEF25-75). Spirometry functions increased with age; however the growth rate decelerated over time. Significant lung function impairment (lower FVC and FEV1 levels) was observed from 4 to 9 years among subjects prenatally exposed to higher levels of PM2.5 as well as PAH, but not in the case of FEF25-75. No significant differences were observed in the rates of increase over time in relation to prenatal PM2.5 and PAH exposure. CONCLUSION Our results indicate that in non-asthmatic children high prenatal exposure to airborne PM2.5 and PAH is associated with lower trajectories of FVC and FEV1, but not the rate of increase over time, suggesting that the initial effect is not diminishing in time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renata Majewska
- Department of Epidemiology, Chair of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kopernika 7a, 31-034 Krakow, Poland.
| | - Agnieszka Pac
- Department of Epidemiology, Chair of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kopernika 7a, 31-034 Krakow, Poland
| | - Elżbieta Mróz
- Department of Epidemiology, Chair of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kopernika 7a, 31-034 Krakow, Poland
| | - John Spengler
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, P.O. Box 15677, Landmark 406 West, 401 Park Drive, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - David Camann
- Department of Analytical and Environmental Chemistry, Southwest Research Institute, 6220 Culebra Road, San Antonio, TX 78228, USA
| | - Dorota Mrozek-Budzyn
- Department of Epidemiology, Chair of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kopernika 7a, 31-034 Krakow, Poland
| | - Agata Sowa
- Department of Epidemiology, Chair of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kopernika 7a, 31-034 Krakow, Poland
| | - Ryszard Jacek
- Department of Epidemiology, Chair of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kopernika 7a, 31-034 Krakow, Poland
| | - Kylie Wheelock
- Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Mailman School Public Health, Columbia University, 722 West 168 St., New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Frederica P Perera
- Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Mailman School Public Health, Columbia University, 722 West 168 St., New York, NY 10032, USA
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Veras MM, de Oliveira Alves N, Fajersztajn L, Saldiva P. Before the first breath: prenatal exposures to air pollution and lung development. Cell Tissue Res 2016; 367:445-455. [PMID: 27726025 DOI: 10.1007/s00441-016-2509-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2016] [Accepted: 09/13/2016] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Various environmental contaminants are known to impair the growth trajectories of major organs, indirectly (gestational exposure) or directly (postnatal exposure). Evidence associates pre-gestational and gestational exposure to air pollutants with adverse birth outcomes (e.g., low birth weight, prematurity) and with a wide range of diseases in childhood and later in life. In this review, we explore the way that pre-gestational and gestational exposure to air pollution affects lung development. We present results in topics underlining epidemiological and toxicological evidence. We also provide a summary of the biological mechanisms by which air pollution exposure possibly leads to adverse respiratory outcomes. We conclude that gestational and early life exposure to air pollutants are linked to alterations in lung development and function and to other negative respiratory conditions in childhood (wheezing, asthma) that may last into adulthood. Plausible mechanisms encompass changes in maternal physiology (e.g., hypoxia, oxidative stress and inflammation) and DNA alterations in the fetus. Evidence for pre-gestational and gestational effects on the lung is scarce compared with that on early life exposure and further studies are needed. However, the suggested mechanisms are credible and the evidence of pre-gestational and gestational air pollution exposure is robust for adverse birth outcomes. Air pollutants might change lung developmental trajectories of the unborn child predisposing it to diseases later in life highlighting the urgent need for controls on urban air pollution levels worldwide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariana Matera Veras
- Laboratory of Environmental Air Pollution, LIM05, Department of Pathology, University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine, Av. Dr. Arnaldo 455 (1st floor, Room 1220), 01246-903, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
- Department of Surgery, Sector of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
| | - Nilmara de Oliveira Alves
- Laboratory of Environmental Air Pollution, LIM05, Department of Pathology, University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine, Av. Dr. Arnaldo 455 (1st floor, Room 1220), 01246-903, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Lais Fajersztajn
- Laboratory of Environmental Air Pollution, LIM05, Department of Pathology, University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine, Av. Dr. Arnaldo 455 (1st floor, Room 1220), 01246-903, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
- Advanced Study Institute, University of Sao Paulo (IEA-USP), Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Paulo Saldiva
- Laboratory of Environmental Air Pollution, LIM05, Department of Pathology, University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine, Av. Dr. Arnaldo 455 (1st floor, Room 1220), 01246-903, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
- Advanced Study Institute, University of Sao Paulo (IEA-USP), Sao Paulo, Brazil
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