Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Aug;115(8):1140-6.
doi: 10.1289/ehp.9863.

Synergistic effects of traffic-related air pollution and exposure to violence on urban asthma etiology

Jane E Clougherty  1 , Jonathan I Levy, Laura D Kubzansky, P Barry Ryan, Shakira Franco Suglia, Marina Jacobson Canner, Rosalind J Wright
Affiliations

Synergistic effects of traffic-related air pollution and exposure to violence on urban asthma etiology

Jane E Clougherty et al. Environ Health Perspect. 2007 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Disproportionate life stress and consequent physiologic alteration (i.e., immune dysregulation) has been proposed as a major pathway linking socioeconomic position, environmental exposures, and health disparities. Asthma, for example, disproportionately affects lower-income urban communities, where air pollution and social stressors may be elevated.

Objectives: We aimed to examine the role of exposure to violence (ETV), as a chronic stressor, in altering susceptibility to traffic-related air pollution in asthma etiology.

Methods: We developed geographic information systems (GIS)-based models to retrospectively estimate residential exposures to traffic-related pollution for 413 children in a community-based pregnancy cohort, recruited in East Boston, Massachusetts, between 1987 and 1993, using monthly nitrogen dioxide measurements for 13 sites over 18 years. We merged pollution estimates with questionnaire data on lifetime ETV and examined the effects of both on childhood asthma etiology.

Results: Correcting for potential confounders, we found an elevated risk of asthma with a 1-SD (4.3 ppb) increase in NO(2) exposure solely among children with above-median ETV [odds ratio (OR) = 1.63; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.14-2.33)]. Among children always living in the same community, with lesser exposure measurement error, this association was magnified (OR = 2.40; 95% CI, 1.48-3.88). Of multiple exposure periods, year-of-diagnosis NO(2) was most predictive of asthma outcomes.

Conclusions: We found an association between traffic-related air pollution and asthma solely among urban children exposed to violence. Future studies should consider socially patterned susceptibility, common spatial distributions of social and physical environmental factors, and potential synergies among these. Prospective assessment of physical and social exposures may help determine causal pathways and critical exposure periods.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of East Boston cohort and NO2 sampling sites. (A) Residential addresses at enrollment (about 1990). (B) Residential addresses at violence questionnaire date (1997).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Annual average NO2 (ppb) across 13 neighborhood sampling sites. For legibility, average annual values at three clustered sites on Bayswater Street and in adjacent Winthrop have been combined. Numbers in the key correspond to sampling sites in Figure 1.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Augustyn M, Frank DA, Posner M, Zuckerman B. Children who witness violence, and parent report of children’s behavior. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2002;156(8):800–803. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ayres MM. A Longitudinal Study of Nitrogen Dioxide Concentrations in and around Logan Airport 1987–2004 [Master’s Thesis] Atlanta, GA: Rollins School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health, Emory University.; 2006.
    1. Baxter LK, Clougherty JE, Laden F, Levy JI. Predictors of concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, fine particulate matter, and particle constituents inside of lower socioeconomic status urban homes. J Expos Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2006 doi: 10.1038/sj.jes.7500532. [Online 18 October 2006] - DOI - PubMed
    1. Brauer M, Hoek G, Van Vliet P, Meliefste K, Fischer P, Wijga A, et al. Air pollution from traffic and the development of respiratory infections and asthmatic and allergic symptoms in children. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2002;166:1092–1098. doi: 10.1164/rccm.200108-007OC. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Brulle RJ, Pellow DN. Environmental justice: human health and environmental inequalities. Annu Rev Public Health. 2006;27:103–124. doi: 10.1146/annurev.publhealth.27.021405.102124. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms