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
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.