1. Early-Life Air Pollution Exposure, Neighborhood Poverty, and Childhood Asthma in the United States, 1990–2014
- Author
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Kravitz-Wirtz, Nicole, Teixeira, Samantha, Hajat, Anjum, Woo, Bongki, Crowder, Kyle, and Takeuchi, David
- Subjects
Climate-Related Exposures and Conditions ,Asthma ,Lung ,Pediatric ,Prevention ,2.2 Factors relating to the physical environment ,Aetiology ,Respiratory ,Air Pollutants ,Air Pollution ,Child ,Child ,Preschool ,Environmental Exposure ,Female ,Health Status Disparities ,Humans ,Infant ,Longitudinal Studies ,Male ,Poverty ,Retrospective Studies ,Risk Factors ,United States ,asthma ,children ,prenatal ,postnatal ,early-life ,air pollution ,nitrogen dioxide ,particulate matter ,neighborhood poverty ,Toxicology - Abstract
Ambient air pollution is a well-known risk factor of various asthma-related outcomes, however, past research has often focused on acute exacerbations rather than asthma development. This study draws on a population-based, multigenerational panel dataset from the United States to assess the association of childhood asthma risk with census block-level, annual-average air pollution exposure measured during the prenatal and early postnatal periods, as well as effect modification by neighborhood poverty. Findings suggest that early-life exposures to nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), a marker of traffic-related pollution, and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), a mixture of industrial and other pollutants, are positively associated with subsequent childhood asthma diagnosis (OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.10⁻1.41 and OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.06⁻1.46, respectively, per interquartile range (IQR) increase in each pollutant (NO₂ IQR = 8.51 ppb and PM2.5 IQR = 4.43 µ/m³)). These effects are modified by early-life neighborhood poverty exposure, with no or weaker effects in moderate- and low- (versus high-) poverty areas. This work underscores the importance of a holistic, developmental approach to elucidating the interplay of social and environmental contexts that may create conditions for racial-ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in childhood asthma risk.
- Published
- 2018