Bermúdez Barón Nicolás, Backman Helena, Hedman Linnea, Rönmark Eva, Andersson Martin
Dept of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, The OLIN and Sunderby Research Unit, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
Environ Health. 2025 Jul 7;24(1):44. doi: 10.1186/s12940-025-01198-z.
Exposure to high levels of vehicle traffic during childhood seems to have a negative effect on lung function. Less is known about the effects of exposure to relatively low levels during childhood. We aimed to study how exposure to vehicle traffic in childhood is associated with lung function and asthma in young adulthood in a 10-year follow-up of a population-based cohort in a municipality with relatively low levels of vehicle traffic.
The Obstructive Lung Disease in Northern Sweden (OLIN) pediatric cohort II was recruited in 2006 at age 8 years. Exposure to vehicle traffic at baseline was studied in relation to lung function at follow-up at age 19 years (n = 1056 participants). Lung function measures included FEV, FVC and FEV/FVC. Different exposure thresholds were defined based on proximity (within a 200 m radius from the home address) to a road with a minimum daily count of heavy vehicles (≥ 250 and ≥ 500) or any type of vehicle (≥ 4000 and ≥ 8000). The association between exposure to vehicle traffic at baseline and lung function at follow-up was analyzed by linear regression adjusting for potential confounders.
In general, those above the exposure thresholds had lower lung function than those below, but not significantly so in all comparisons. Those exposed to ≥ 250 heavy vehicles/day had lower mean FEV z-score at follow-up (-0.38) compared with those exposed to < 250 heavy vehicles/day (-0.21), p = 0.033, and this association remained after adjustment for confounders (p = 0.036). Also, those exposed to ≥ 8000 vehicles/day had lower mean FVC z-score (-0.19) than those exposed to < 8000 vehicles/day (-0.02), p = 0.047, with p = 0.032 after adjustment.
Exposure to vehicle traffic in childhood, in a relatively low traffic-flow environment, may be associated with a slightly lower lung function in young adulthood.
儿童时期暴露于高水平的车辆交通环境似乎会对肺功能产生负面影响。对于儿童时期暴露于相对低水平的车辆交通环境的影响，人们了解较少。我们旨在通过对一个车辆交通水平相对较低的城市中基于人群的队列进行10年随访，研究儿童时期暴露于车辆交通环境与青年时期肺功能和哮喘之间的关联。
瑞典北部阻塞性肺病（OLIN）儿科队列II于2006年招募，当时年龄为8岁。研究了基线时的车辆交通暴露情况与19岁随访时的肺功能之间的关系（n = 1056名参与者）。肺功能指标包括第一秒用力呼气容积（FEV）、用力肺活量（FVC）和FEV/FVC。根据与每日重型车辆最低计数（≥250和≥500）或任何类型车辆（≥4000和≥8000）的道路的接近程度（家庭住址半径200米范围内）定义了不同的暴露阈值。通过线性回归分析调整潜在混杂因素后，分析基线时的车辆交通暴露与随访时的肺功能之间的关联。
总体而言，高于暴露阈值的人群肺功能低于低于阈值的人群，但并非所有比较均有显著差异。与每天暴露于<250辆重型车辆的人群相比，每天暴露于≥250辆重型车辆的人群在随访时的平均FEV z评分较低（-0.38）（-0.21），p = 0.033，调整混杂因素后该关联仍然存在（p = 0.036）。此外，每天暴露于≥8000辆车辆的人群的平均FVC z评分（-0.19）低于每天暴露于<8000辆车辆的人群（-0.02），p = 0.047，调整后p = 0.032。
在交通流量相对较低的环境中，儿童时期暴露于车辆交通环境可能与青年时期肺功能略低有关。
