Abstract
One of the central research concerns about air pollution and respiratory disease is whether air pollution is contributing to the induction of asthma thereby increasing its incidence. This study, used a Geographical Information System (GIS) to compare the distribution of nitrogen dioxide, a known traffic sourced bronchoconstricting agent, with the postcode distribution of emergency asthma admissions into local hospitals. The potential of GIS as a modelling tool for combining air quality monitoring and epidemiological studies on a rapid basis is demonstrated. Further development of this approach may provide an invaluable aid to public health monitoring. A significant correlation of 0.882 was found between asthma admission and N(>2 levels for adults while the correlation for children was 0.496. The adult figure is considered significant for an epidemiological study. Health and the atmospheric environment Relationships between the atmospheric environment and its impact on human health have been well established. Well-known examples include the 4,000 excess deaths caused by the notorious London smog of 1952 an episode of illness only exceeded in the UK this century by the influenza pandemic of 1918; and the adverse effects of atmospheric lead and alky 1-lead compou6nd concentrations on the neurophysiological behaviour in children [1]. Recent international research [2] suggests that episodes of air pollution and short term fluctuations in pollutant levels may give rise to temporary * current address: Nene College, Northants, UK Transactions on Ecology and the Environment vol 6, © 1995 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541
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