ADVERSE-EFFECTS OF THE INDOOR ENVIRONMENT ON RESPIRATORY HEALTH IN PRIMARY-SCHOOL CHILDREN

Citation
Cej. Cuijpers et al., ADVERSE-EFFECTS OF THE INDOOR ENVIRONMENT ON RESPIRATORY HEALTH IN PRIMARY-SCHOOL CHILDREN, Environmental research, 68(1), 1995, pp. 11-23
Citations number
46
Categorie Soggetti
Public, Environmental & Occupation Heath","Environmental Sciences
Journal title
ISSN journal
00139351
Volume
68
Issue
1
Year of publication
1995
Pages
11 - 23
Database
ISI
SICI code
0013-9351(1995)68:1<11:AOTIEO>2.0.ZU;2-W
Abstract
Exposure to various factors from the indoor environment on respiratory health of 470 Dutch primary school children was studied. We investiga ted which of the factors, such as home dampness, passive smoking, unve nted kitchen geysers, or pets, affected children's respiratory health the most, and whether airway sensitivity to these indoors exposures di ffered between boys and girls. Information on respiratory morbidity an d characteristics of the housing was obtained by a written questionnai re, completed by the parents of the children. Lung function of the chi ldren was measured at school, by forced oscillation technique (FOT) an d spirometry. In boys, all investigated lung function parameters were significantly affected by exposure to passive smoking during the child 's entire life. Although mostly nonsignificant, all of the reported as thma-like symptoms were related especially to maternal smoking, with a trend of a dose-response relationship. Furthermore, damp stains (P < 0.05) and mold growth (ns) were associated with chronic cough and with small but significant impairments in part of the lung function parame ters. No consistent patterns were observed with unvented kitchen geyse rs and pets. Although passive smoking (cumulative dose) in girls was a lso associated with lung function impairments, the effects were smalle r than those in boys and not all significant. Associations between the asthma-like symptoms and the dose of maternal and paternal smoking al so were less consistent. Furthermore, no associations were found with the dampness indicators and with pets, but unvented kitchen geysers we re significantly related to impairments in some of the impedance indic es. This study shows detrimental effects of several indoor factors on the prevalence of chronic respiratory symptoms and lung function in ch ildren, which are most pronounced for passive smoking, and somewhat le ss pronounced for dampness and the presence of unvented kitchen geyser s. Airway sensitivity to these exposures appeared to be higher in boys than in girls. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.