Eur Respir J 2012; 40: 538–547
DOI: 10.1183/09031936.00002611
CopyrightßERS 2012
PM10, and children’s respiratory symptoms
and lung function in the PATY study
Gerard Hoek, Sam Pattenden, Saskia Willers, Temenuga Antova,
Eleonora Fabianova, Charlotte Braun-Fahrländer, Francesco Forastiere,
Ulrike Gehring, Heike Luttmann-Gibson, Leticia Grize, Joachim Heinrich,
Danny Houthuijs, Nicole Janssen, Boris Katsnelson, Anna Kosheleva,
Hanns Moshammer, Manfred Neuberger, Larisa Privalova, Peter Rudnai,
Frank Speizer, Hana Slachtova, Hana Tomaskova,
Renata Zlotkowska and Tony Fletcher
ABSTRACT: Studies of the impact of long-term exposure to outdoor air pollution on the prevalence
of respiratory symptoms and lung function in children have yielded mixed results, partly related to
differences in study design, exposure assessment, confounder selection and data analysis.
We assembled respiratory health and exposure data for .45,000 children from comparable crosssectional studies in 12 countries. 11 respiratory symptoms were selected, for which comparable
questions were asked. Spirometry was performed in about half of the children. Exposure to air
pollution was mainly characterised by annual average concentrations of particulate matter with a
50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 10 mm (PM10) measured at fixed sites within the study areas.
Positive associations were found between the average PM10 concentration and the prevalence
of phlegm (OR per 10 mg?m-3 1.15, 95% CI 1.02–1.30), hay fever (OR 1.20, 95% CI 0.99–1.46),
bronchitis (OR 1.08, 95% CI 0.98–1.19), morning cough (OR 1.15, 95% CI 1.02–1.29) and nocturnal
cough (OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.98–1.29). There were no associations with diagnosed asthma or asthma
symptoms. PM10 was not associated with lung function across all studies combined.
Our study adds to the evidence that long-term exposure to outdoor air pollution, characterised
by the concentration of PM10, is associated with increased respiratory symptoms.
AFFILIATIONS
Author affiliations are listed in the
Acknowledgements section.
CORRESPONDENCE
G. Hoek
Institute for Risk Assessment
Sciences
University of Utrecht
PO Box 80178
3508 TD Utrecht
The Netherlands
E-mail: g.hoek@uu.nl
Received:
Jan 07 2011
Accepted after revision:
Dec 09 2011
First published online:
April 20 2012
KEYWORDS: Child, lung function, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, respiratory symptoms
S
hort-term increases in outdoor air pollution
have been associated with respiratory
symptoms and temporary lung function
decreases [1, 2]. The impact of long-term exposure
to outdoor air pollution on prevalence of respiratory
symptoms and lung function in children has been
investigated in studies around the world [3–15].
Results concerning symptoms have been mixed,
with more evidence for significant effects of outdoor
air pollution on bronchitis or symptoms such as
cough and phlegm than on asthma or asthmatic
symptoms such as wheeze. Results from crosssectional studies of lung function in children were
also mixed [14]. Several prospective studies documented significant effects of outdoor air pollution
on lung function development, e.g. the Californian
Children’s Health Study [14, 15]. Some of the
inconsistencies in reported associations between
air pollution and lung function may be due to
differences in study design [14]. Studies differ in
their study area (air pollution exposure contrasts
between communities versus within a community),
measured pollutants (particulate matter, sulphur
dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone), wording of
symptom questions, study population (either population based or high risk), inclusion of potential
confounders and statistical methods. Particulate
matter air pollution has been represented with
various indices, including total suspended particulate matter (TSP), particulate matter with a 50%
cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 10 mm (PM10) or
2.5 mm (PM2.5). Some studies have reported higher
air pollution effect estimates on lung function for
females [7, 12], but the evidence is currently not
convincing [14]. In the Children’s Health study, air
pollution effects on symptoms were stronger in
males [8], whereas the effects on lung function were
stronger in females [7]. Interpretation of subgroup
analysis in single studies is difficult as the power to
detect significant interactions is limited.
This article has supplementary material available from www.erj.ersjournals.com
538
VOLUME 40 NUMBER 3
European Respiratory Journal
Print ISSN 0903-1936
Online ISSN 1399-3003
EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY JOURNAL
ENVIRONMENTAL LUNG DISEASE
G. HOEK ET AL.
To overcome some of these shortcomings, the Pollution and the
Young (PATY) project assembled health and exposure data for
58,561 children from comparable cross-sectional studies in 12
countries on children’s respiratory health. Pooling original
data allowed harmonisation of data analysis and definition
of confounders, pursuit of research questions not addressed
originally, and inclusion of unpublished studies. We made
further use of the large dataset to assess effect modification with
more precision than single studies. We already published on
associations between outdoor NO2 and respiratory symptoms in
a subset of the five PATY studies with NO2 exposure data [16].
In the current article, we examine the association between
ambient fine particulate matter (PM10) in all PATY studies and
prevalence of respiratory symptoms and lung function.
METHODS
Study design
Cross-sectional studies of children were sought that assessed
respiratory symptoms and individual risk factors by questionnaire, included cough and wheeze as outcomes, and
allowed calculation of annual mean particulate matter measures by study area. We included all cross-sectional studies
that were available at the onset of the study. From the USA and
the Netherlands, we included only the most recent and largest
study, excluding the Six City and Six School studies [14].
Table 1 describes the studies contributing to this paper. More
details on the individual studies can be found elsewhere [4, 10,
11, 13, 16, 18–20]. The studies from Russia, Central and Eastern
Europe and Italy have not previously published results of air
pollution analysis in the English language. The study areas were
of substantially different magnitude. The Austrian and Czech
study was performed in one city, and the North American study
included a very large area in the USA and Canada. We therefore
anticipated some heterogeneity in effects, which was taken into
account in the analysis. All studies had obtained permission
from the relevant medical ethical committees.
Exposure assessment methods
The main exposure of interest was the annual mean concentration of PM10 in the corresponding study area. Data on the
gaseous pollutants NO2 and SO2 were also obtained. In all
studies, air pollution concentrations were measured at fixed
monitoring sites in the study area. To assess the comparability
of monitoring sites and monitoring methods, a standard
questionnaire was discussed with the investigators of the
studies (online supplementary material pages 2 and 3 and
tables S1 and S2). Briefly, PM10 was directly measured specifically for the study with Harvard impactors in Switzerland, the
CESAR study, and for Russia and North America. In the
Netherlands, Austria and Germany, particulate matter measurements were converted to gravimetric PM10 using co-located
measurements with a standard particulate matter sampler in the
study area. In the Italian study, multiple particulate matter
monitoring methods were used and there was insufficient colocation with standard PM10 equipment to allow calculation of a
consistent PM10 concentration. The evaluation further resulted
in a few modifications of the original exposure estimates and
exclusions of a few areas because of unrepresentative monitoring sites (online supplementary material pages 2 and 3).
Several of the studies also performed spirometry (table 1). All
studies used equipment that fulfilled either the 1987 criteria of
the American Thoracic Society (ATS) or the 1993 European
Respiratory Society (ERS) criteria. Spirometry was performed
using the 1987 protocol of the ATS (North American, German
and Austrian studies) or the 1993 ERS (CESAR study and the
Netherlands). Further details have been published previously
[17]. The main lung function measures of interest were forced
vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1),
peak expiratory flow and the forced expiratory flow at 25–75%
of the FVC (FEF25–75%).
Data analysis
A priori, we assessed that air pollution exposure contrasts
between countries could not be exploited, as differences in
language and (unmeasured) major risk factors were likely to be
more dominant determinants for the health outcomes (especially with regards to symptoms). Hence, a two-stage analysis
approach was used. In stage one, study-specific PM10 effects
were estimated using logistic regression for symptoms and
linear regression for lung function. This approach also has the
advantage that systematic differences in PM10 sampler
performance between studies do not affect the results. An
area-level random intercept was included to account for
clustering within the study areas. The CESAR study was
conducted in five countries and, although common methods
were used, the study was analysed per country. In stage two,
effect estimates and standard errors were entered into a metaanalysis, obtaining a mean estimate, and a measure and
Cochran Chi-squared test of heterogeneity using the STATA
(StataCorp, College Station, TX, USA) metan command.
Estimation of this mean and its confidence interval takes into
account both between-study variation in effects and uncertainty of study-specific estimates [22]. In the first stage, we
controlled for age, sex, maternal education, paternal education,
household-crowding, current parental smoking, mother smoking during pregnancy, gas cooking, unvented gas/oil/kerosene heater, mould, nationality, birth order and ‘‘ever had a
pet’’ [16]. Lung function analyses were additionally adjusted
for age, height, weight, technician, instrument, season of
testing and reported infection on the day of the test. The
natural logarithm of lung function variables was used as the
dependent variable to allow for non-normal distribution and
nonlinear associations with anthropometric variables [17]. The
natural logarithm of age, weight and height (sex-specific using
an interaction term) were included as predictors following the
North American study [13]. We further calculated predicted
values for FVC, FEV1 and FEF25–75% using recently published
prediction equations and used the % predicted lung function
as the dependent variable in an additional analysis [23].
EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY JOURNAL
VOLUME 40 NUMBER 3
Health data
Original questionnaires were translated into English and
critically examined for comparability of wording. 11 comparable symptom outcomes were identified: wheeze in the past
12 months, asthma ever, bronchitis in the past 12 months,
phlegm, nocturnal dry cough in the past 12 months, morning
cough in the past 12 months, sensitivity to inhaled allergens, hay
fever ever, itchy rash ever, woken by wheeze in the past
12 months and allergy to pets. The exact wording of the symptom
questions in all studies has been reported previously [21].
539
c
Overview of design, respiratory health and exposure data of studies included in the Pollution and the Young (PATY) project
Study name,
Study areas
location [ref.]
Scarpol,
Switzerland
Main age
Health end-points
Health data collection
range yrs
10 communities, major cities (Bern,
Exposure data
PM10# mg?m-3
NO2# mg?m-3
SO2# mg?m-3
collection
6–12
Symptoms
October 1992–March 1993
1992"
24 (10–33)
32 (16–50)
13 (2–23)
6–8
Symptoms, lung function
January 1996–December
1996–1998
32 (24–42)
26 (20–31)
6 (4–14)
October 1995–
67 (62–71)
NA
NA
October 1996
76 (65–89)
NA
NA
NA
Geneva, Zürich) and small towns
[11]
Linz, Austria [17]
Schools assigned to 8 monitors in
the city of Linz
1998
VOLUME 40 NUMBER 3
CESAR, Central
3 areas in 3 towns in Bulgaria
9–12
Symptoms, lung function
and Eastern
4 areas in the city of Ostrava, Czech
9–12
Symptoms, lung function
Europe [18]
Republic
5 towns spread throughout Hungary
9–12
Symptoms, lung function
61 (56–72)
NA
4 towns spread throughout Poland
9–12
Symptoms, lung function
74 (60–85)
NA
NA
4 areas in three towns in Slovakia
9–12
Symptoms, lung function
49 (41–57)
NA
NA
3 towns former East Germany
6–12
Symptoms, lung function
September 1992–July 1993
1991–1993
43 (33–53)
NA
60 (46–75)
6–10
Symptoms
October–December 1994
October 1993–
NA
52 (14–93)
13 (2–32)
Germany [5]
Spring 1996
ENVIRONMENTAL LUNG DISEASE
540
TABLE 1
(Hettstedt, Zerbst, Bitterfeld)
SIDRIA, Italy [19]
46 areas in 22 towns including major
cities (Rome, Turin) and small towns
24-school, the
24 schools located within 400 m of a
Netherlands
major road in mid-west Netherlands
October 1994
7–12
Symptoms, lung function
April 1997–July 1998
April 1997– May 1998
34 (30–39)
35 (27–44)
NA
8–12
Symptoms
April–May 1999
November 1998–
24 (20–28)
20 (13–35)
26 (7–65)
24 (15–33)
NA
12 (1–34)
[10]
10-city, Russia
[20]
13 areas in 10 towns of different size
(largest Ekaterinburg) and industrialisa-
November 1999
tion
[4, 13]
24 medium-sized communities in the
USA and Canada
8–12
Symptoms, lung function
September–May 1988–1991+ Year prior to health
evaluation
Data are presented as mean (range), unless otherwise stated. PM10 was directly measured in Switzerland, Central European Study on Air pollution and Respiratory Health (CESAR) study, Russia and USA; it was estimated
using co-located measurements from total suspended particulate matter in Austria and Germany, and from PM2.5 in the Netherlands. PM10: particulate matter with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 10 mm; NA: not
available. #: mean and range of study area-specific annual average concentrations; ": 1993 for PM10; +: study in three consecutive years including eight, nine and seven cities, respectively. SIDRIA: Studi Italiani sui Disturbi
Respiratori nell’Infanzia e l’Ambiente.
G. HOEK ET AL.
EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY JOURNAL
24-city, USA
EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY JOURNAL
: some outcomes not included in the questionnaire of all countries.
+
14.9
Total
Data are presented as %, unless otherwise stated. #: number with no missing covariates; ": symptoms for the past 12 months, except asthma, hay fever and itchy rash, for which the questions referred to lifetime (ever);
4.6
5.0
6.8
10.7
9.3
15.3
12.7
3.2
45788
9.7
18.6
7.3
13.9
4.6
8.9
9.7
13.3
10.2
13.7
14.4
14.6
11.9
18.3
2739
Switzerland
9.9
10.4
2975
Slovakia
6.7
31.3
5.4
13.7
21.5
1.2
6.4
11.4
7.2
14.7
1.9
13.4
5453
Russia
9.0
6.2
4.4
5.1
8.9
7.4
14.1
20.7
13.9
46.3
5.9
5.9
6.2
34.9
10.5
2821
Poland
12.3
14496
North America
9.7
11.0
13.7
21.6
9.5
7.9
8.1
9.5
1916
The Netherlands
19.4
5.0
9.3
4.9
15.2
7.2
22.3
8.2
6.9
6.4
13.8
8.5
22.2
9.6
3460
10.1
1903
Hungary
20.6
Germany
9.8
41.5
32.9
2.3
18.5
9.3
19.6
26.8
17.3
14.0
4.5
15.0
4.7
4.6
15.5
10.8
5.8
6.6
9.3
8.2
12.8
11.3
16.3
5.3
10.4
+
8.6
15.9
15.8
13.6
VOLUME 40 NUMBER 3
23.7
4.0
5.3
allergens
inhaled
Sensitivity to
Morning
Phlegm
Bronchitis
Asthma
Wheeze"
n
Children#
Prevalence (%) of respiratory symptoms in each country
3356
Annual average concentrations of particulate matter with a 50%
cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 10 mm (PM10) per study area, within each country.
Czech Republic
100
2765
80
3904
40
60
Mean PM10 µg·m-3
Bulgaria
FIGURE 1.
20
Austria
0
TABLE 2
Switzerland
Slovakia
Russia
Poland
North America
The Netherlands
Hungary
Germany
Czech Republic
Bulgaria
Austria
Nocturnal cough
Complete information on health and covariates was available
for 45,788 children. About one-third of the children were from
the North American study (table 2). Several-fold differences in
symptom prevalence were found between countries, probably
partly related to cultural differences and subtle differences in
wording of the question.
cough
RESULTS
Associations between air pollution and respiratory
symptoms
Data were available from 11 studies on PM10 and symptoms
(table 1). The highest PM10 concentrations were measured in the
Central and Eastern European areas. The range in concentration
within a study was largest in the North American and Swiss
studies (ratio of maximum to minimum larger than two) (fig. 1).
5.2
Hay fever
All analyses were performed using STATA version 8 (StatCorp).
After adjustment for confounders, PM10 was significantly
associated with phlegm and morning cough (table 3 and fig. 2).
Associations between PM10 and a doctor diagnosis of bronchitis,
nocturnal cough and hay fever were borderline significant.
Significant heterogeneity between study-specific estimates was
found for most outcomes. The most consistent pattern was found
for phlegm and hay fever, for which most study-specific effect
estimates were either positive or slightly negative (fig. 2). For
bronchitis and the two cough variables, both positive and
negative effect estimates were found. A diagnosis of asthma and
the symptoms wheeze and being woken by wheeze were
not associated with PM10. Meta-regression could not identify
significant factors at the study level explaining the observed
pets
Allergy to
Woken by
Itchy rash
Subgroup analyses were conducted in the first stage to assess
individual subject characteristics as a source of heterogeneity.
We stratified by sex, age and reporting of wheeze, and
sensitisation (the latter for lung function only).
wheeze
Meta-regressions assessed associations between study-specific
estimates and study characteristics. These a priori-defined
potential sources of heterogeneity between estimates were
study period, design type (between-city, within-city or mixed
design), location of monitoring station, proportion of younger
children (6–8 yrs), questionnaire-date variability across study
areas, high response rate (.80%) and response-rate variability
across study areas.
2.1
ENVIRONMENTAL LUNG DISEASE
G. HOEK ET AL.
541
c
ENVIRONMENTAL LUNG DISEASE
TABLE 3
G. HOEK ET AL.
Association between prevalence of respiratory
symptoms and long-term average concentration
of particulate matter with a 50% cut-off
aerodynamic diameter of 10 mm (PM10)
Mean OR (95% CI)
Wheeze
Age-sex adjusted
Fully adjusted#
1.03 (0.95–1.11)"
1.01 (0.95–1.09)
Asthma
0.99 (0.92–1.08)
1.03 (0.97–1.10)
Bronchitis
1.06 (0.94–1.21)"
1.08 (0.98–1.19)"
Phlegm
1.16 (1.02–1.31)"
1.15 (1.02–1.30)"
Nocturnal cough
1.15 (1.00–1.32)"
1.13 (0.98–1.29)"
"
1.15 (1.02–1.29)"
"
1.02 (0.93–1.11)
Morning cough
Sensitivity to inhaled
1.16 (1.02–1.32)
1.01 (0.90–1.13)
allergens
Hay fever
1.18 (0.96–1.44)
1.20 (0.99–1.46)
Itchy rash
1.04 (0.98–1.11)
1.07 (0.96–1.19)"
Woken by wheeze
1.04 (0.94–1.14)"
1.01 (0.92–1.12)
Allergy to pets
1.18 (0.95–1.46)"
1.18 (0.96–1.45)"
Odds ratios (ORs) are combined effect estimates from single pollutant models
calculated from country-specific estimates using random effects model. Mean
ORs and 95% confidence intervals are given per 10 mg?m-3 increase in PM10.
#
: adjusted for age, sex, maternal education, paternal education, household-
crowding, current parental smoking, mother smoking during pregnancy, gascooking, unvented gas/oil/kerosene heater, mould, nationality, birth order and
‘‘ever had a pet’’; ": evidence of between-study heterogeneity (p,0.10).
heterogeneity in effect estimates. Table S3 presents the data for
the symptom phlegm.
Two-pollutant models were employed for symptoms showing
(borderline) significant associations with PM10 in the singlepollutant model (table 4). Adjustment for SO2 made little
difference to the PM10 effect estimates with the exception of
bronchitis, which showed a substantial decrease (single versus
two pollutant PM10 estimates table 4). Adjustment for NO2
made little difference to the PM10 effect estimates for bronchitis,
phlegm, morning cough and hay fever. For the symptoms of
nocturnal cough, sensitivity to inhaled allergens, itchy rash and
allergy to pets, after inclusion of NO2, the PM10 effect estimates
were reduced. Correlations (r) between the annual average
concentration of NO2 and PM10 in the studies with o10 study
areas ranged from 0.48 to 0.84. Correlations between SO2 and
PM10 ranged from 0.36 to 0.82.
PM10 effect estimates did not differ significantly between
males and females, or between the younger and older children
in the study population (table S4). Associations for hay fever
and allergy to pets were stronger in the older children, but the
difference with the younger children was not significant. Effect
of PM10 on nocturnal cough and allergy to pets were stronger
in boys than in girls but the differences did not reach statistical
significance.
Associations between air pollution and lung function
Valid lung function data were available for 22,809 children
(table S5). About 60% of the children with a valid lung function
542
VOLUME 40 NUMBER 3
test were from the North American study. While in the North
American, German, Austrian and Dutch studies, the percentage of children with a valid lung function test was well over
80%, it ranged from between 26 and 60% for the four CESAR
study countries. This was related to too early termination of
the test, resulting in too low FVC values. In all studies except
the Austrian study, the mean percentage predicted lung
function using the Stanojevic equations was close to 100.
On average, no association was found between the average
PM10 concentration of the study area and lung function (fig. 3).
In individual studies, both increases (Slovakia) and decreases
(North America and Poland) in lung function were found with
increasing PM10. Removing the CESAR countries from the
analysis did not change the associations substantially (table S6).
Analysis of the data using the recent Stanojevic prediction
equations also resulted in no significant associations between
PM10 and lung function (table S6).
There were no significant differences in PM10 effect estimates
between males and females or younger and older children
(table 5).
DISCUSSION
Statistically (borderline) significant positive associations were
found between PM10 and the prevalence of phlegm, morning
cough, hay fever, bronchitis and nocturnal cough. There were
no associations with diagnosed asthma and asthma symptoms.
PM10 effect estimates did not differ between males and
females. PM10 was not associated with lung function.
The main strength of our study is the large number of children
(45,000) taken from studies in 12 countries. This reduces the
risk of finding spurious associations due to, for example,
unmeasured confounding at the study area level as in single
studies. The large study size also allowed for analyses of
subgroups with more precision. Compared with a standard
meta-analysis of studies, our study offers several advantages
related to having the original data of all the studies available
instead of only the air pollution effect estimates. First, we
selected end-points for a common analysis that were considered
sufficiently similar in wording. Secondly, the same data analysis
procedures were used, including a common set of confounders.
Thirdly, the comparability of exposure data collection could be
assessed in detail, which resulted in the removal of some study
areas from the epidemiological analysis. Finally, several
unpublished studies were included in the analysis.
Comparison with previous studies
Our findings of significant associations between PM10 and
respiratory symptoms and no associations with lung function
are in agreement with the Harvard Six City study and two
German studies, which were not included in the current
analysis [3, 9, 24]. In contrast, other studies not included in the
PATY study did find associations between long-term average
air pollution exposure and lung function [14]. For the studies
included in the PATY study the large North American study
found associations with both lung function and bronchitis [13],
whereas the Dutch, German and CESAR studies [5, 10, 18] did
not find lung function associations.
The effect of air pollution may have been too modest to be
reflected in detectable changes of lung function. The (asthma)
EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY JOURNAL
ENVIRONMENTAL LUNG DISEASE
G. HOEK ET AL.
a)
Austria
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Germany
Hungary
The Netherlands
North America
Poland
Russia
Slovakia
Switzerland
b)
Austria
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Germany
Hungary
The Netherlands
North America
Poland
Russia
Slovakia
Switzerland
c)
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Hungary
The Netherlands
North America
Poland
Russia
Slovakia
Switzerland
Combined
Combined
Combined
d)
e)
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Hungary
The Netherlands
North America
Poland
Russia
Slovakia
f)
Austria
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Hungary
The Netherlands
Poland
Slovakia
Switzerland
Austria
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Germany
Hungary
North America
Poland
Russia
Slovakia
Switzerland
Combined
Combined
Combined
g)
h)
Austria
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Hungary
The Netherlands
North America
Poland
Russia
Slovakia
Switzerland
Austria
Germany
The Netherlands
North America
Russia
Switzerland
i)
Austria
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Germany
Hungary
The Netherlands
Poland
Slovakia
Switzerland
Combined
Combined
Combined
0.5
j)
1.0
1.5
2.0
3.0
4.0
Austria
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Germany
Hungary
The Netherlands
Poland
Slovakia
Switzerland
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Hungary
The Netherlands
North America
Poland
Russia
Slovakia
Switzerland
Combined
Combined
0.5
FIGURE 2.
0.75
k)
0.75
1.0
1.5
2.0
3.0
4.0
0.5
0.75 1.0
1.5
2.0
3.0
4.0
Forest plots of study-specific and mean odds ratios for effects of particulate matter with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 10 mm (PM10) on a) wheeze,
b) asthma, c) bronchitis, d) phlegm, e) nocturnal cough, f) morning cough, g) sensitivity to inhaled allergens, h) hay fever, i) itchy rash, j) being woken by wheeze and k)
allergy to pets. Odds ratios per 10 mg?m-3 increase in PM10 are from single pollutant models, adjusted for individual risk factors. The vertical line indicates odds ratio of 1 and
horizontal lines represent 95% confidence intervals of estimates. The diamond shape at the bottom of each graph indicates position, and confidence interval, of the mean of
the estimates. Symptoms are for the past 12 months, except asthma, hay fever and itchy rash, which refer to lifetime (ever).
symptoms related to the largest deficits in lung function were
also not associated with outdoor air pollution. Alternatively,
different biases in the analysis of symptoms and lung function
may explain the inconsistencies. First, the typically small
effects of air pollution on lung function may have been masked
by factors such as variability in coaching and judgement by the
technician, instrument, subtle shifts in instrument calibration,
short-term weather factors and (past) infections [10]. In the
CESAR study, good-quality tests were only obtained in ,50%
of the children, despite a rigorous quality assurance/quality
control protocol. Exclusion of the CESAR study countries from
the analysis, however, did not change our results. Secondly,
reporting bias of symptoms may explain some of the positive
associations in studies where parents of the children are aware
of high air pollution exposures. This is an unlikely explanation,
especially in the North American study where none of the
included cities was highly polluted by local sources, and the
Dutch study where all schools were located within 400 m from
a major road. The pattern of associations, with bronchitis but
not asthma, also makes reporting bias unlikely. Thirdly, lung
function data were available for a smaller subset of children,
but the precision of estimated effects on lung function was
good because of pooling data from a large number of children.
Fourthly, pollution levels were moderate. Air pollution may
affect lung function at higher pollution levels, such as in many
developing countries. Longitudinal studies in highly polluted
Mexico City support this [14]. Fifthly, spirometry was performed
with now updated guidelines. The updates in performance of
testing are probably not sufficiently major to explain the lack of
overall associations in our study. We further showed that the use
of recent prediction equations for spirometry also resulted in no
association between PM10 and lung function. Finally, we only
included cross-sectional studies. Several prospective studies
have found associations between air pollution and lung function
growth, although a series of Austrian studies did not find
consistent effects of particulate matter [14].
EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY JOURNAL
VOLUME 40 NUMBER 3
Heterogeneity of effects
Despite the efforts to select symptoms with similar wording
and harmonise confounder data and data analysis, significant
heterogeneity was present in both the symptom and lung
function country-specific effect estimates. A priori-defined
study-level factors could not explain this heterogeneity,
possibly related to the relatively small number of studies.
543
c
ENVIRONMENTAL LUNG DISEASE
TABLE 4
G. HOEK ET AL.
Combined effect estimates of particulate matter with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 10 mm (PM10) on
respiratory symptoms from single- and two-pollutant models
Mean OR (95% CI)#
Studies n
Single-pollutant model
Two-pollutant model
Bronchitis
In studies with SO2 data
3
1.17 (0.93–1.48)
0.81 (0.44–1.51)"
In studies with NO2 data
3
1.35 (0.96–1.91)
1.49 (0.85–2.61)
In studies with SO2 data
2
1.23 (0.81–1.89)"
1.24 (0.80–1.94)"
In studies with NO2 data
2
1.55 (1.11–2.18)
1.55 (1.01–2.38)
Phlegm
Nocturnal cough
In studies with SO2 data
2
1.41 (0.68–2.93)"
1.43 (0.61–3.36)"
In studies with NO2 data
3
1.14 (0.68–1.91)"
0.79 (0.53–1.19)
In studies with SO2 data
5
1.25 (0.93–1.67)"
1.24 (0.90–1.70)"
In studies with NO2 data
3
1.42 (1.04–1.92)
1.36 (0.87–2.13)
Morning cough
Hay fever
In studies with SO2 data
5
1.13 (0.98–1.31)
1.19 (1.01–1.40)
In studies with NO2 data
4
1.22 (0.84–1.78)"
1.18 (0.70–1.97)
Itchy rash
In studies with SO2 data
3
1.05(0.93–1.19)
1.13 (0.97–1.33)
In studies with NO2 data
3
1.18 (0.94–1.50)
0.91 (0.48–1.71)"
In studies with SO2 data
3
1.31 (0.90–1.90)"
1.16 (0.88–1.52)
In studies with NO2 data
3
1.25 (0.92–1.70)
0.87 (0.42–1.80)"
Allergy to pets
Combined effect estimates calculated from country-specific estimates using random effects model. #: adjusted for age, sex, maternal education, paternal education,
household crowding, current parental smoking, mother smoking during pregnancy, gas cooking, unvented gas/oil/kerosene heater, mould, nationality, birth order, and
‘‘ever had a pet’’ and expressed per 10-mg?m-3 increase in PM10; ": evidence of between study heterogeneity (p,0.10).
Differences in study design may have contributed to the observed
heterogeneity. Six of the included studies assessed exposure
contrasts between communities (Switzerland, Germany, North
America, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria), two studies assessed
within-community contrasts (Austria and the Czech Republic),
and in the remaining three studies exposure contrasts derived
from a mixture of between and within community contrasts. The
major common exposure variable PM10 is likely to represent
different air pollution mixtures in the different studies, with longrange transported particles contributing only in studies with a
between-community component and freshly emitted (ultrafine)
particles contributing more to the contrast in the within-city
studies. However, particles emitted by motorised traffic have
contributed to the exposure contrast in all studies. Within the
PATY study, there was no consistent pattern of stronger effects
for those studies with a strong traffic-exposure component.
We did not find any difference in effect estimates between
males and females, either for symptoms or for lung function. In
previous single studies, stronger effects were reported for
females in some studies [7, 12] and males in other studies [8].
Limitations
The small number of study areas is a limitation in some of our
studies, although in Switzerland, Russia, the Netherlands and
North America, the number of areas was fairly large (o10).
544
VOLUME 40 NUMBER 3
The annual average concentration of PM10 was the main
exposure variable within the PATY study. We also evaluated
NO2 and SO2 as pollutants representing the urban air pollution
mixture, but the number of studies with data on multiple
pollutants was limited. Hence, the ability to assess effects of
PM10 independent of the gaseous pollutants was limited. Twopollutant models are difficult to interpret, especially when the
same source affects both pollutants, as is the case for PM10 and
NO2, for which motorised traffic is an important source. We
cannot exclude that other pollutants such as the soot or
elemental carbon content of particulate matter or the ultrafine
particle concentration were associated more strongly with the
health outcomes.
Several studies have assessed indicators of motorised-traffic
emissions at a fine spatial scale (,100–300 m) [6, 10, 12, 24].
Our central monitoring data do not reflect these fine-scale
air pollution variations. Because we did not have access to
individual addresses, we were unable to generate individual
exposure estimates at the residential address. Hence, our study
does not provide information on the role of primary traffic
emissions. Although this is a limitation, studies comparing the
average concentration across communities remain valuable, as
they allow estimation of the potential health effects of more
aged pollution mixtures. Furthermore, a large fraction of the
population does not live directly on major roads. Personal
monitoring studies have shown that the population average
EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY JOURNAL
ENVIRONMENTAL LUNG DISEASE
G. HOEK ET AL.
a)
b)
Austria
Czech Republic
Germany
Hungary
The Netherlands
North America
Poland
Slovakia
Combined
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
Difference in FVC %
3
4
5
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
Difference in FEV1 %
3
4
5
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
Difference in FEF25–75% %
6
8
10
d)
c)
Austria
Czech Republic
Germany
Hungary
The Netherlands
North America
Poland
Slovakia
Combined
-10
FIGURE 3.
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
Difference in PEF %
6
8
10
Forest plots of study-specific and mean effects of particulate matter with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 10 mm (PM10) for a) forced vital capacity (FVC),
b) forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), c) peak expiratory flow (PEF) and d) forced expiratory flow at 25–75% of the FVC (FEF25–75%). Figures are given as percentage
difference in lung function per 10-mg?m-3 increase in PM10 from single pollutant models, adjusted for individual risk factors. The vertical line indicates null, i.e. 0% change (no
effect), and horizontal lines represent 95% confidence intervals of estimates. ‘‘Combined’’ indicates the mean and its confidence interval of the individual estimates.
TABLE 5
Combined estimates for the fully adjusted effect of a 10-mg?m-3 increase in particulate matter with a 50% cut-off
aerodynamic diameter of 10 mm on lung function in different subgroups
FVC
FEV1
FEF25–75%
PEF
Sex
Male
0.1 (-0.8–0.9)
0.3 (-0.6–1.2)
1.0 (-0.8–2.7)
-0.1 (-1.0–0.8)
Female
-0.1 (-0.7–0.6)
0.1 (-0.6–0.8)
0.2 (-1.2–1.7)
-0.3 (-1.8–1.2)
Age yrs
6–9
0.0 (-1.4–1.4)
0.1 (-1.2–1.4)
0.1 (-2.4–2.6)
-0.3 (-2.3–1.7)
10–12
-0.1 (-0.8–0.6)
0.4 (-0.6–1.4)
1.2 (-0.6–3.0)
0.1 (-1.4–1.6)
Wheeze
No
0.2 (-0.8–1.2)
0.4 (-0.6–1.4)
1.0 (-0.8–2.8)
-0.1 (-1.7–1.5)
Yes
-0.3 (-1.2–0.5)
-0.4 (-1.3–0.5)
-0.3 (-3.9–3.3)
0.4 (-1.3–2.1)
Sensitivity to inhaled
allergens
No
0.3 (-0.8–1.4)
0.6 (-0.8–2.0)
1.2 (-0.7–1.1)
0.3 (-1.7–2.3)
Yes
-0.4 (-1.1–0.3)
0.0 (-0.9–0.9)
0.6 (-1.8–3.0)
-0.3 (-1.6–1.0)
Data are presented as % difference (95% confidence interval). FVC: forced vital capacity; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; FEF25–75%: forced expiratory flow at
25–75% of the FVC; PEF: peak expiratory flow. Combined effect estimates calculated from country-specific estimates using random effects model.
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ENVIRONMENTAL LUNG DISEASE
G. HOEK ET AL.
personal exposure of subjects is strongly related to the outdoor
air pollution level measured at a central site in the community
[25]. For individual subjects, differences in exposure from the
population average may occur. However, much of the measurement error is likely to be Berkson error, which generally does
not lead to bias [26]. Finally, the Swiss SAPALDIA (Swiss study
on Air Pollution and Lung Disease In Adults) and the Children’s
Health study study reported an effect of both within and
between community contrasts in NO2 exposure on lung
function of adults and children’s respiratory symptoms [7, 27,
28]. Chronic bronchitis of adults in the European Community
Respiratory Health Survey was associated with individual level
variables representing traffic, but not centre level variables such
as the central site PM2.5 concentration [29]. In that study, the
between-community contrast, however, was largely due to
differences between countries, a contrast that we specifically
decided not to assess because of the potential for too many
differences for which we did not have data. Despite the value of
assessing community-level pollution, there is a clear need for
assessment of the health effects of near-traffic exposures. There
is, for example, some evidence that asthma incidence in children
and adults may be associated with near-traffic exposures and
not with urban background pollution [30].
In conclusion, our study adds to the evidence that long-term
exposure to outdoor air pollution, characterised by the concentration of PM10, is associated with increased respiratory
symptoms (phlegm and morning cough) in children. We did not
find an association between PM10 and lung function, possibly
due to modest pollution levels and heterogeneity across studies.
SUPPORT STATEMENT
The PATY study was funded by the EU Fifth Framework Quality of
Life Programme (contract number QLRT-2001-02544).
STATEMENT OF INTEREST
None declared.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The study was coordinated by T. Fletcher (London School of Hygiene
and Tropical Medicine, London, UK).
Author affiliations are as follows. G. Hoek: Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands;
S. Pattenden: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London,
UK; S. Willers: Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht
University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; T. Antova: Environmental Health
Unit, NCPHP, Sofia, Bulgaria; E. Fabianova: Regional Authority of Public
Health, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia; C. Braun-Fahrländer: Swiss Tropical
and Public Health Institute and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland;
F. Forastiere: Dept of Epidemiology, ASL Rome, Rome, Italy; U. Gehring:
Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University,
Utrecht, the Netherlands and Helmholtz Zentrum München, Institute
of Epidemiology, Neuherberg, Germany; H. Luttmann-Gibson: Dept of
Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA,
USA; L. Grize: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and University
of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; J. Heinrich: Helmholtz Zentrum München,
Institute of Epidemiology, Neuherberg, Germany; D. Houthuijs: National
Institute Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the
Netherlands; N. Janssen: Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS),
Utrecht University, Utrecht and the National Institute Public Health and
the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands; B. Katsnelson: Ural
Regional Centre for Environmental Epidemiology, Ekaterinburg, Russia;
A. Kosheleva: Ural Regional Centre for Environmental Epidemiology,
Ekaterinburg, Russia; H. Moshammer: Institute of Environmental
546
VOLUME 40 NUMBER 3
Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; M. Neuberger:
Institute of Environmental Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna,
Austria; L. Privalova: Ural Regional Centre for Environmental
Epidemiology, Ekaterinburg, Russia; P. Rudnai: National Institute of
Environmental Health, "Fodor Jozsef" National Center for Public Health,
Budapest, Hungary; F. Speizer: Dept of Environmental Health, Harvard
School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; H. Slachtova: Institute of
Public Health, Center of Health Services, Ostrava, Czech Republic; H.
Tomaskova: Institute of Public Health, Center of Health Services,
Ostrava, Czech Republic; R. Zlotkowska: Epidemiology Dept, Institute
of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health, Sosnowiec,
Poland; and T. Fletcher: London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine, London, UK.
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