COHORT STUDY ON RESPIRATORY-DISEASES AND LUNG-FUNCTION IN SCHOOLCHILDREN IN SOUTHWEST GERMANY .4. INNER-CITY INFLUENCES ON RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS IN MANNHEIM

A prospective cohort study on more than 8000 schoolchildren aged 8 to 16 years was conducted during the years 1977, 1979 and 1985 in Southwe st Germany. The primary question of the study was to investigate the r egional differences in respiratory health status of the children due t o air pollution. In a logistic regression analysis of 11 respiratory s ymptoms and 2 scores measuring the tendency to infectious and asthmati c diseases we found increased odds ratios for respira tory symptoms fo r children living in Mannheim or the Breisgau compared to those living in the Black Forest. The regional effects were highest in the populat ion of children aged 8-10 years and disappeared for the 16 years old a dolescents. The relative risks of infectious respiratory symptoms agre e spatially and temporarily well with the pattern of SO2 concentration which may be interpretated as an indicator for air pollution by power plants, industry and domestic heating. In this part of the analysis w e investigate the increased prevalences of symptoms and diseases with respect to exposure related to small areas within the city of Mannheim . To classify the personal exposure we use emission data related to ar eas and main roads and immission data on the level of square kilometer s which are connected with the health data by the childrens' home addr ess. Symptoms and diseases are analysed by logistic regression and the results depend on data of those children who had lived for at least 5 years in the same. area (n(77) = 1146, n(79) = 1140, n(85) = 1128). A fter allowing for the effects of relevant covariables an association, of the prevalence of respiratory and asthmatic illness to exposure due to automobile exhaust (traffic density, NO2 and soot), SO2 or ozone w as not seen. Thus no evidence was found to suggest that there is a rel ationship between the spatial pattern of exposure data and the pattern of respiratory symptoms for children living in Mannheim.