Allergy and Household Living Conditions among Adolescents Living near Gold Mine Tailing Dumps in the Gauteng and North West Provinces of South Africa.

Abike O Olajide-Ibiejugba,Janine Wichmann,Robin J Green,Vusumuzi Nkosi,Joyce Shirinde,Funzani Takalani-Rathogwa,Kuku Voyi

doi:10.3390/ijerph19010122

Abstract

This quantitative exploratory baseline study aimed to investigate whether allergy among adolescents was associated with household living conditions, including living near gold mine tailing dumps in South Africa. A questionnaire based on the International Study of Asthma and Allergies was used to collect information on allergy and household risk factors among adolescents (n = 5611). A chi-square test was applied to determine the relationship between community (exposed/unexposed) and confounding variables. Crude and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using univariate and multiple logistic regression analysis (LRA) to estimate the likelihood of having doctor-diagnosed allergies. The overall prevalence of doctor-diagnosed allergies was 25.5%. The exposed communities had a higher prevalence of doctor-diagnosed allergies (26.97%) compared with the unexposed (22.69%) communities. The study found an association between doctor-diagnosed allergy and having fungus in the house, being female, currently having pets in and around the house, residing in the community for more than three years and living in communities located close to gold mine tailing dumps. Actions to implement buffer zones between gold mine tailing dumps and communities would support Sustainable Development Goals 3 (health) and 11 (sustainable cities and communities), while failing to address the current potential identified risk factors may pose a significant public health challenge. Local policymakers should also apply the precautionary principle to protect the health of children, especially with the location of human settlements relative to air pollution sources.

Highlights

52.33% were female, 25.31% lived in the area for more than 3 years, 86.09% lived in formal dwellings, 7.80% lived in a house with damp walls, 6.14% lived in a house with fungus, 44.91% had pets in and around the house, 4.77% used a wood stove while 8.81% used a coal stove as a source of energy in the house, 8.37% used paraffin and 73.55% electricity, 38.01% were exposed to environmental tobacco smoke and 4.61%
The results of the study are similar to other studies in the literature, which reported an association between doctor-diagnosed allergy and exposure to allergens such as the presence of fungus in the house
Having pets in and around the house was found to be associated with doctor-diagnosed allergy; this finding is supported by many other studies in the literature, some researchers have observed the opposite, where researchers argue that children who grow up with animals around the house may build an immunological response, serving as a protective factor

Summary

Introduction

Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/About 20 to 30% of the world’s population have some sort of allergic disease and allergic diseases have now become the most common motive for seeking medical help. Even in its less severe form, it can impact negatively on the health of millions of individuals, reducing the quality of life and work productivity [1,2]. Allergy encompasses conditions that include asthma, allergic rhinitis and has been implicated in adverse drug reactions, atopic dermatitis, occupational diseases, adverse reactions to foods, hypersensitivity reactions of the skin, angioedema and urticaria, insect and bee venom hypersensitivity, conjunctivitis 4.0/).Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 122. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010122 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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