RESPIRATORY-PROBLEMS AMONG SCHOOLCHILDREN LIVING IN THE VICINITY OF AN INDUSTRIALIZED ZONE

Purpose: This study was carried out in the framework of a health monit oring system set up in the vicinity of a 1400 MW coal-fired power plan t in Israel. Methods: Second, fifth and eighth grade schoolchildren we re followed up every three years; they performed pulmonary function te sts (PFT) and their parents filled out ATS-NHLI health questionnaires. A subgroup of children living near an industrial zone was studied sep arately and compared with children from another relatively clean part of the town. Results: Children growing up in the vicinity of the indus trial zone showed a higher prevalence of almost all respiratory sympto ms compared with children residing in the unpolluted part of the town. Part of the symptoms, such as 1. sputum with cold, 2. sputum without cold and 3. cough accompanied by sputum were significantly more common among the schoolchildren from the industrialized zone;their prevalenc es being: 1. 27.3% in the industrialized compared with 12.5% in the cl eaner area, 2. 12.7% compared with 2.5% and 3. 18.2% compared with 6.3 %, respectively. No significant differences could be shown for the pre valence of respiratory diseases among the children from the two zones; asthma was more common among children from the industrial zone but th e difference was not statistically significant. No consistent trend of reduced pulmonary function tests could be shown for the four subgroup s of studied children (e.g. boys and girls from fifth and eighth class ). Conclusions: Children residing in the vicinity of the industrialize d zone had significantly more respiratory symptoms compared with child ren from a cleaner part of the town. No permanent physiological change s were obvious.