LEPAE, Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias s/n, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal.
Chemosphere. 2013 Feb;90(7):2051-8. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2012.10.063. Epub 2012 Dec 8.
Protecting the health of children and the environment is an essential objective for the health policies of any modern society, being also crucial for a sustainable development, according to the World Health Organization. Evaluating the risk of developing childhood asthma is one of the four priority issues identified by the European Commission, according to the European Union Environment and Health Action Plan. Accordingly, this review aimed to update information concerning the effects of exposure to ozone on childhood asthma, thus helping in the development of strategies for further research. Studies have been demonstrating strong associations between the exposure to ozone and asthma. However, the complexity of exposure patterns, the changes in the vulnerability of children at various stages of development, and the practical limitations of research, lead to a still incomplete understanding of the ozone impact on the health of children. Difficulties on the interpretation of epidemiological studies to evaluate chronic effects are mainly due to an absence of studies designed specifically to address this question and to inherent limitations in characterizing exposure. The more rigorous studies provided new evidences for chronic effects of ozone on small airway function and possibly on asthma, but substantial uncertainties remain.
保护儿童和环境的健康是任何现代社会卫生政策的基本目标，也是可持续发展的关键，世界卫生组织如是说道。根据欧盟环境与健康行动计划，评估儿童哮喘发病风险是欧盟委员会确定的四个优先问题之一。因此，本综述旨在更新有关接触臭氧对儿童哮喘影响的信息，从而有助于制定进一步研究的策略。研究表明，臭氧暴露与哮喘之间存在很强的关联。然而，由于暴露模式的复杂性、儿童在不同发育阶段易感性的变化，以及研究的实际局限性，导致人们对臭氧对儿童健康的影响仍不完全了解。在解释评估慢性影响的流行病学研究时存在困难，主要是因为缺乏专门针对这一问题设计的研究，以及在描述暴露方面的固有局限性。更严格的研究为臭氧对小气道功能和可能对哮喘的慢性影响提供了新的证据，但仍存在很大的不确定性。
