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Sun BZ, Gaffin JM. Recent Insights into the Environmental Determinants of Childhood Asthma. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep 2024; 24:253-260. [PMID: 38498229 DOI: 10.1007/s11882-024-01140-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/20/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW Ubiquitous environmental exposures, including ambient air pollutants, are linked to the development and severity of childhood asthma. Advances in our understanding of these links have increasingly led to clinical interventions to reduce asthma morbidity. RECENT FINDINGS We review recent work untangling the complex relationship between air pollutants, including particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone and asthma, such as vulnerable windows of pediatric exposure and their interaction with other factors influencing asthma development and severity. These have led to interventions to reduce air pollutant levels in children's homes and schools. We also highlight emerging environmental exposures increasingly associated with childhood asthma. Growing evidence supports the present threat of climate change to children with asthma. Environmental factors play a large role in the pathogenesis and persistence of pediatric asthma; in turn, this poses an opportunity to intervene to change the course of disease early in life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bob Z Sun
- Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Ave, BCH 3121, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jonathan M Gaffin
- Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Ave, BCH 3121, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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Lu W, Jenny A, Romero C, Diaz-Artiga A, Kuster A, Canuz E, Pillarisetti A, McCracken JP, Huang W, Smith KR, Balmes J, Thompson LM. Biomass smoke exposure and somatic growth among children: The RESPIRE and CRECER prospective cohort studies in rural Guatemala. Environ Int 2024; 183:108401. [PMID: 38147790 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2023] [Revised: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/28/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cooking-related biomass smoke is a major source of household air pollution (HAP) and an important health hazard. Prior studies identified associations between HAP exposure and childhood stunting; less is known for underweight and wasting. Few studies had personal HAP measurements. METHODS 557 households in rural Guatemala were enrolled in the CRECER study, the follow-up study of the RESPIRE randomized intervention trial. They were assigned to three groups that received chimney stoves at different ages of the study children. Multiple personal carbon monoxide (CO) exposure measurements were used as proxies for HAP exposures. Children's heights and weights were measured from 24 to 60 months of age. Height-for-age z-score (HAZ), weight-for-age z-score (WAZ), and weight-for-height z-score (WHZ) were calculated based on the World Health Organization's Multicentre Growth Reference Study. HAZ, WAZ, and WHZ below -2 were classified as stunting, underweight, and wasting, respectively. Generalized linear models and mixed effects models were applied. RESULTS 541 children had valid anthropometric data, among whom 488 (90.2 %) were stunted, 192 (35.5 %) were underweight, and 2 (0.3 %) were wasted. A 1 ppm higher average CO exposure was associated with a 0.21 lower HAZ (95 % CI: 0.17-0.25), a 0.13 lower WAZ (95 % CI: 0.10-0.17) and a 0.06 lower WHZ (95 % CI: 0.02-0.10).The associations for HAZ were stronger among boys (coefficient = -0.29, 95 % CI: -0.35 - -0.22) than among girls (coefficient = -0.15, 95 % CI: -0.20 - -0.10). A 1 ppm-year higher cumulative CO exposure was associated with a higher risk of moderate stunting among boys (OR = 1.27, 95 % CI: 1.05-1.59), but not among girls. DISCUSSION In this rural Guatemalan population, higher HAP exposure was associated with lower HAZ and WAZ. The associations between HAP and HAZ/stunting were stronger among boys. Reducing HAP might benefit childhood somatic growth in rural populations of low-income countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenxin Lu
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 94720 Berkeley, CA, USA.
| | - Alisa Jenny
- Institute for Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, 94158 San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Carolina Romero
- Centro de Estudios en Salud, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
| | - Anaite Diaz-Artiga
- Centro de Estudios en Salud, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
| | - Andrea Kuster
- School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, 94158 San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Eduardo Canuz
- Centro de Estudios en Salud, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
| | - Ajay Pillarisetti
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 94720 Berkeley, CA, USA.
| | - John P McCracken
- Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, University of Georgia, 30606 Athens, GA, USA.
| | - Wenzhong Huang
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
| | - Kirk R Smith
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 94720 Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - John Balmes
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 94720 Berkeley, CA, USA; Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Lisa M Thompson
- Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, 30322 Atlanta, GA, USA.
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Du W, Chen L, Chen Y. Solid Fuel Combustion and Air Pollution: Filling the Data Gap and Future Priorities. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022; 19:15024. [PMID: 36429744 PMCID: PMC9690309 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192215024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2022] [Accepted: 11/14/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
To date, some 3 billion people worldwide still rely on solid fuels (e.g., wood, coal,crop residues, animal dung, etc.) as a source of residential energy for cooking and space heating[...].
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Du
- Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control, Faculty of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kunming University of Science &Technology, Kunming 650500, China
| | - Long Chen
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science of the Ministry of Education, School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Yuanchen Chen
- Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310032, China
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