ASSOCIATION BETWEEN AMBIENT AIR POLLUTION AND ACUTE CHILD-HOOD WHEEZY EPISODES IN COLOMBO

Abstract

ThIS study analyses the air pollution data from the continuous. fully aurom.ucd. .uubrcnt ,\II'quality monitoring station operated at Colombo Fort and the records of dally uuc ndancc. atthe Colombo Lady Ridgeway Children Hospital (LRH), lor episodes ()I severe wheelingwhich required nebulizer therapy as an immediate treatment over a period oj (Jill' vcai from1 July yg to 30'h June yy Daily lIlaXII1ILlln one-hour averages of Sulphur Dioxide (S02) and Oxides of Nitrogen (NO,)have been used as the indicator parameters for air pollution. It was observed that thechanging pattern of both pollutants is consistent (r > 0,6) throughout the period of the study, It wa- also observed that the incidence of the daily nebulization rate and daily maximumone-hour ambient sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen were normally disnihutcd over thestudy period. In this study. the date of occurrence of the maximum and the minimum air polluuon levelsderived from daily maxima of Sulphur Dioxide (S02) and Oxides of Nitrogen (NO,) in eachweek (from Sunday to Saturday) were compared with those of daily attendance with acutewheeling at the LRH. Out of fifty one (51) weeks, the occurrence of the highest nebulization at the highestpolluted day (with respect to sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen) and the lowestnebulization at the lowest polluted day in each week throughout the year was highlysigni Iicaru (binonual test. p=O,(5). This study clearly indicates that there is a strong association between ambient air pollution(with respect to Sulphur Dioxide and Oxides of Nitrogen) and acute child hood wheezingepisodes. 111 Colombo.