Scarlett J F, Abbott K J, Peacock J L, Strachan D P, Anderson H R
Department of Public Health Sciences, St George's Hospital Medical School, London, UK.
Thorax. 1996 Nov;51(11):1109-14. doi: 10.1136/thx.51.11.1109.
There is growing concern about health effects of air pollution in the UK. Studies in the USA have reported adverse effects on lung function among children but no comparable studies have been published in the UK. This study investigates the relationship between daily changes in ambient air pollution and short term variations in lung function in a panel of school children.
One hundred and fifty four children aged 7-11 attending a primary school adjacent to a major motorway in Surrey, south-east England, were studied. Bellows spirometry was performed daily on 31 schooldays between 6 June and 21 July 1994. Levels of ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and particulates of less than 10 microns in diameter (PM10) were measured continuously at the school and the pollen count was measured six miles away. Relationships between daily changes in forced expiratory volume in 0.75 seconds (FEV0.75), forced vital capacity (FVC), the FEV0.75/FVC ratio and pollutants were analysed using separate autoregressive models for each child. A weighted average of the resulting slopes was then calculated.
There was a significant inverse relationship between daily mean PM10 levels lagged one day and FVC, with a reduction in lung function of 1% (95% CI 0.3% to 2%) across the whole range of PM10 levels (20-150 micrograms/m3). The effect on FEV0.75 was similar (-0.5%) but was not significant when weighted by 1/SE2 (95% CI -1.2% to 0.2%). There was no effect of PM10 levels on the FEV0.75/FVC ratio. No significant association was seen between FEV0.75, FVC, or the FEV0.75/FVC ratio and either ozone or nitrogen dioxide levels. There was no evidence that wheezy children were more affected than healthy children. Pollen levels on the previous day had no effect on lung function and did not change the air pollution results.
There is a very small, but statistically significant, adverse effect of airborne respirable particulate matter, measured as PM10, on lung function in this study group. There is no evidence for an inverse association of lung function with levels of ozone or NO2 measured on the previous day.
在英国，空气污染对健康的影响日益受到关注。美国的研究报告了空气污染对儿童肺功能的不利影响，但英国尚未发表类似的研究。本研究调查了一组学童的环境空气污染每日变化与肺功能短期变化之间的关系。
对154名年龄在7至11岁、就读于英格兰东南部萨里郡一条主要高速公路旁一所小学的儿童进行了研究。在1994年6月6日至7月21日的31个上学日里，每天对儿童进行波纹管肺活量测定。在学校连续测量臭氧、二氧化氮和直径小于10微米的颗粒物（PM10）水平，并在6英里外测量花粉计数。使用针对每个儿童的单独自回归模型分析了0.75秒用力呼气量（FEV0.75）、用力肺活量（FVC）、FEV0.75/FVC比值的每日变化与污染物之间的关系。然后计算所得斜率的加权平均值。
滞后一天的每日平均PM10水平与FVC之间存在显著的负相关关系，在整个PM10水平范围（20 - 150微克/立方米）内，肺功能下降1%（95%可信区间0.3%至2%）。对FEV0.75的影响类似（-0.5%），但经1/SE2加权后不显著（95%可信区间-1.2%至0.2%）。PM10水平对FEV0.75/FVC比值没有影响。在FEV0.75、FVC或FEV0.75/FVC比值与臭氧或二氧化氮水平之间未发现显著关联。没有证据表明喘息儿童比健康儿童受到的影响更大。前一天的花粉水平对肺功能没有影响，也没有改变空气污染的结果。
在本研究组中，以PM10衡量的空气中可吸入颗粒物对肺功能有非常小但具有统计学意义的不利影响。没有证据表明肺功能与前一天测量的臭氧或二氧化氮水平呈负相关。
