Respiratory problems associated with exposure to airborne particles in thecommunity

During the spring of 1995, schoolchildren aged 7-13 y who lived in a rural area in Israel were studied. These children lived in two communities: in on e community, the population was exposed to pollution from a cement factory and quarries; the population of the second community was not exposed to pol lution from these sources. The children from participating schools performe d forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 1 s, peak expiratory f low, forced expiratory flow at 50%, and forced expiratory flow at 25%. Pare nts completed an American Thoracic Society-National Heart and Lung Institut e health questionnaire, which included information about respiratory sympto ms and diseases of the children and information about background variables. A trend of higher prevalence of most respiratory symptoms occurred in 638 children who were growing up in the community that bordered the industrial zone, compared with 338 children from the unexposed community. Cough withou t cold, sputum without cold, and cough accompanied by sputum were the most prevalent symptoms. Asthma diagnosed by a physician was reported more frequ ently for children who lived near the polluting sources. No consistent tren d of reduced pulmonary function tests was observed among children who lived in the polluted community; however, peak expiratory flow was significantly lower among these children. Odds ratio values, calculated from logistic re gressions in which we controlled for respiratory problems among parents, mo thers who smoked, crowding index, education of mothers, and residential hea ting, were 3.6 (p value for model =.244) for cough without cold, 4.0 (p val ue for model =.333) for asthma, and 2.2 (p value for model =.753) for asthm a and/or bronchitis in the polluted area, compared with 1.0 in the low-poll ution community. Total suspended particulate matter and levels of airborne particles less than 10 microns, measured in the community bordering the ind ustrial zone, very often violated the relevant 24-h Israeli standards of 20 0 mu g/m(3) and 150 mu g/m(3), respectively.