Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Basel, Switzerland.
Environ Health. 2011 Mar 4;10:13. doi: 10.1186/1476-069X-10-13.
Most studies having shown respiratory health effects from traffic exhaust were conducted in urban areas with a complex mixture of air pollution sources. This study has investigated the potential impact of traffic exhaust on respiratory symptoms among adults living along a Swiss alpine highway corridor, where traffic exhaust from the respective trans-Alpine highway is the predominate source of air pollution.
In summer 2005, we recruited 1839 adults aged 15 to 70 from a random sample of 10 communities along the Swiss alpine highway corridors. Subjects answered a questionnaire on respiratory health (asthmatic and bronchitic symptoms), risk factors, and potential confounding variables. We used logistic regression models to assess associations between respiratory symptoms and traffic exposure being defined a) as living within 200 m of the highway, and b) as a bell-shaped function simulating the decrease of pollution levels with increasing distance to the highway.
Positive associations were found between living close to a highway and wheezing without cold (OR = 3.10, 95%-CI: 1.27-7.55) and chronic cough (OR = 2.88, 95%-CI: 1.17-7.05). The models using a bell-shaped function suggested that symptoms reached background levels after 400-500 m from the highway. The association with chronic cough was driven by a subgroup reporting hay fever or allergic rhinitis.
Highway traffic exhaust in alpine highway corridors, in the absence of other industrial sources, showed negative associations with the respiratory health of adults, higher than those previously found in urban areas.
大多数研究表明交通废气对呼吸道健康有影响，这些研究都是在城市地区进行的，那里存在多种复杂的空气污染来源。本研究调查了交通废气对居住在瑞士阿尔卑斯山高速公路走廊沿线的成年人呼吸道症状的潜在影响，在这些地区，来自各自的跨阿尔卑斯山高速公路的交通废气是空气污染的主要来源。
2005 年夏季，我们从瑞士阿尔卑斯山高速公路走廊沿线的 10 个社区的随机样本中招募了 1839 名 15 至 70 岁的成年人。受试者回答了一份关于呼吸道健康（哮喘和支气管炎症状）、危险因素和潜在混杂变量的问卷。我们使用逻辑回归模型来评估呼吸道症状与交通暴露之间的关联，交通暴露定义为 a）居住在高速公路 200 米以内，b）模拟随着与高速公路距离的增加污染水平降低的钟形函数。
发现靠近高速公路居住与无感冒的喘息（OR=3.10，95%CI：1.27-7.55）和慢性咳嗽（OR=2.88，95%CI：1.17-7.05）之间存在正相关。使用钟形函数的模型表明，症状在距离高速公路 400-500 米后达到背景水平。与慢性咳嗽的关联是由报告花粉热或过敏性鼻炎的亚组驱动的。
在没有其他工业源的情况下，阿尔卑斯山高速公路走廊中的高速公路交通废气与成年人的呼吸道健康呈负相关，高于以前在城市地区发现的关联。
