Asthma and lower airway disease
Increased asthma and respiratory symptoms in children exposed to petrochemical pollution

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2008.09.052Get rights and content

Background

Epidemiologic studies show statistical associations between levels of air pollutants and respiratory outcomes.

Objective

We sought to determine the effects of exposure to petrochemical pollution on the respiratory health of children.

Methods

Children aged 6 to 12 years living close to the petrochemical plants in La Plata, Argentina (n = 282), were compared with those living in a region with exposure to heavy traffic (n = 270) or in 2 relatively nonpolluted areas (n = 639). Parents answered a validated questionnaire providing health and demographic data. A random sample (n = 181) had lung function measured. Particulate matter and outdoor and indoor volatile organic compound levels were measured during 4-week study periods and reported as overall means for each study area.

Results

Children living near the petrochemical plant had more asthma (24.8% vs 10.1% to 11.5%), more asthma exacerbations (6.7 vs 2.9-3.6 per year), more respiratory symptoms (current wheeze, dyspnea, nocturnal cough, and rhinitis), and lower lung function (>13% decrease in FEV1 percent predicted) than those living in other regions. Length of residence in the area was a significant risk factor, but age, sex, body mass index, proximity to busy roads and other nonpetrochemical industries, length of breast-feeding, and socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of children or their families were not.

Conclusion

Exposure to particulate matter and volatile organic compounds arising from petrochemical plants but not from high traffic density was associated ith worse respiratory health in children.

Section snippets

Study location

The study was conducted during 2005-2006 in La Plata, Argentina, a city of 702,449 inhabitants located next to Argentina's main oil refinery (total crude oil distillation capacity, 38,000 m3/d). Six petrochemical plants in the region produce diverse compounds, such as aromatics (benzene, toluene, and xylenes), aliphatic solvents (n-pentane, n-hexane, and n-heptane), polypropylene, polybutene, maleic anhydride, cyclohexane, methanol, methyl tertiary butyl ether, and petroleum coke. This

Pollutant levels

The concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, and PM0.5 were higher in the industrial and urban areas than in the semirural control area (Table II), with no differences between the 2 polluted regions (Table II). Concentrations of VOCs were also higher in both polluted regions than in the 2 relatively nonpolluted regions (Table II). The concentrations of hexane, cyclohexane, benzene, and toluene were particularly high in the industrial region. The total concentration of the VOCs analyzed was 4-fold higher

Discussion

The data from the present study demonstrate that living in an area of the city of La Plata, Argentina with higher levels of PM and VOCs in the ambient environment was associated with worse respiratory health in children aged 6 to 12 years. This effect was predominantly seen in children living in an industrial region exposed to pollutants from the main petrochemical complex. Children living in this area had a higher prevalence of asthma and asthma-like symptoms and a greater number of acute

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    The Scientific Research Commission of the Province of Buenos Aires (CIC-PBA) and the National University of La Plata financed the present study.

    Disclosure of potential conflict of interest: N. Cianni and A. Porta have received research support from the Comision de Investigaciones Cientificas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires and from Universidad Nacional de la Plata (Argentina). The rest of the authors have declared that they have no conflict of interest.

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