Incidence of Allergic Diseases in Children Probably Unrelated to Air Pollution
A recently published extensive meta-analysis of 7 cohorts of children aged 4 and 8 from 5 European countries investigated the relationship between air pollution at the child's place of residence and the incidence of allergic eczema, rhinoconjunctivitis, or asthma.
Evaluated Population and Parameters
The analysis included data on 6527 children aged 4 years and 2489 children aged 8 years from the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, and Greece. The study investigated the relationship between the current incidence of allergic eczema, rhinoconjunctivitis, or asthma (i.e., the presence of symptoms or ongoing treatment of these conditions) and the average amount of NO2, nitrogen oxides, and particular matter of specific interest with an aerodynamic diameter < 10 µm, 2.5–10 µm, and < 2.5 µm at the child's permanent residence at birth as well as at ages 4 and 8 years.
Results
The overall prevalence of allergic eczema was 15.4%, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis 5.9%, and asthma 12.4%. The authors found no significant link between increased exposure to air pollution and the incidence of these allergic conditions. Demographic and environmental characteristics were taken into account.
Conclusion
Based on the above findings, it can be summarized that the results did not indicate any adverse effect of polluted air on the incidence of allergic eczema, rhinoconjunctivitis, and asthma in European children aged 4 and 8 years.
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Source: Fuertes E., Sunyer J., Gehring U. et al. Associations between air pollution and pediatric eczema, rhinoconjunctivitis and asthma: a meta-analysis of European birth cohorts. Environ Int 2020 Mar; 136: 105474, doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105474.
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