Levels of Acrolein in Ambient Air and Childhood Asthma in New York City

Abstract

Levels of Acrolein in Ambient Air and Childhood Asthma in New York CityAbstract Number:2635 Jeanette A Stingone* and Luz Claudio Jeanette A Stingone* Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, United States, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author and Luz Claudio Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, United States, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author AbstractAcrolein, an aldehyde present in ambient air, is a known respiratory irritant. Childhood asthma has been linked to acrolein in indoor air but less is known about ambient acrolein. To investigate the relationship between ambient acrolein and childhood asthma, we used a population-based, cross-sectional study that consisted of a parent- report questionnaire distributed in 26 randomly-selected New York City public elementary schools during the 2002-2003 school year. Using EPA’s 2002 National Air Toxics Assessment, which provides census-tract based estimates of hazardous air pollutants, we constructed weighted acrolein exposure estimates for each child’s ZIP Code of residence, using data on the percentage of the ZIP Codes’ residential buildings that fall within each census tract from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Accounting for the complex survey design, we constructed binomial regression models using the 4,661 children with complete data to separately calculate prevalence ratios for current asthma, defined as ever diagnosis and symptoms in past 12 months, and recent symptoms among children with asthma. After adjusting for child’s race/ethnicity, maternal education, type of housing and exposure to tobacco smoke, the prevalence ratio for current asthma comparing children with a 0.1 µg/m3 greater amount of estimated acrolein exposure was 1.41 (95% confidence interval, CI: 1.11, 1.79). When restricting to the subpopulation of 484 current asthmatics, the adjusted prevalence ratio of having asthma symptoms within two weeks of assessment was 1.37 (95%CI 1.06, 1.79) when examining a 0.1 µg/m3 greater amount of estimated acrolein exposure and controlling for race/ethnicity, maternal education, type of housing, exposure to tobacco smoke, usual source of asthma care and season of questionnaire completion. These results suggest acrolein in the ambient air may be associated with childhood asthma and asthma symptoms and warrants further investigation.