English P B, Von Behren J, Harnly M, Neutra R R
Impact Assessment, Inc., Emeryville, CA 94608, USA.
Rev Panam Salud Publica. 1998 Jun;3(6):392-9. doi: 10.1590/s1020-49891998000600005.
Since the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993, there has been an increasing need to monitor environmental health trends that may be related to the rapid industrialization of the United States/Mexico border. We studied two counties on the California/Baja California border to obtain baseline data on trends in childhood asthma hospitalizations and two pollutants that aggravate asthma, ozone and particulate matter (less than 10 microns in diameter), from 1983 to 1994. Hospital discharge records of children 14 years and younger were analyzed, and rates by county, race, and sex were age-adjusted to the 1990 California population. Data on five ozone and particulate matter indices obtained from the California Environmental Protection Agency were used. Imperial County had the highest childhood asthma hospitalization rates in California for non-Hispanic whites and African-Americans, and the second highest for Hispanics. San Diego County had rates below the state average. Over the time period examined, rates in Imperial County increased 59%, while those in San Diego County decreased 9%. Maximum ozone levels increased 64% in Imperial County but decreased 46% in San Diego County. Particulate matter levels were four times higher in Imperial than in San Diego County. High rates of childhood asthma hospitalizations in Imperial County may be partially related to high levels of poverty and worsening air quality conditions produced by increased burdens on the local airshed. Asthma prevalence surveys and binational time-series analyses examining asthma-pollutant relationships are needed.
自1993年《北美自由贸易协定》通过以来，监测可能与美国/墨西哥边境快速工业化相关的环境卫生趋势的需求日益增加。我们研究了加利福尼亚州/下加利福尼亚州边境的两个县，以获取1983年至1994年期间儿童哮喘住院趋势以及两种加重哮喘的污染物（臭氧和直径小于10微米的颗粒物）的基线数据。分析了14岁及以下儿童的医院出院记录，并将各县、种族和性别的发病率按年龄调整至1990年加利福尼亚州人口。使用了从加利福尼亚州环境保护局获得的关于五个臭氧和颗粒物指数的数据。帝国县非西班牙裔白人和非裔美国人的儿童哮喘住院率在加利福尼亚州最高，西班牙裔的住院率排第二。圣地亚哥县的发病率低于该州平均水平。在所研究的时间段内，帝国县的发病率上升了59%，而圣地亚哥县的发病率下降了9%。帝国县的臭氧最高水平上升了64%，而圣地亚哥县下降了46%。帝国县的颗粒物水平是圣地亚哥县的四倍。帝国县儿童哮喘住院率高可能部分与当地高贫困率以及当地空气流域负担增加导致空气质量恶化有关。需要进行哮喘患病率调查和双边时间序列分析，以研究哮喘与污染物之间的关系。
