Abstract
BackgroundMotor vehicle-related air pollution can potentially impair lung function. The effect of pollution in people with compromised pulmonary function such as in COPD has not been previously investigated. To examine the association of lung function with motor vehicle density in people with spirometrically determined COPD in a cross-sectional study.MethodsIn 2004–06, The North West Adelaide Health Study (NWAHS), a biomedical cohort of adults assessed pre and post-bronchodilator spirometry (n = 3,103). Traffic density, obtained from the motor vehicle inventory maintained by the South Australian Environment Protection Authority, was expressed as the daily numbers of vehicles travelling within a 200 m diameter zone around participants’ geocoded residences.ResultsIn subjects with COPD (FEV1/FVC <0.7, n = 221, 7.1 %), increasing daily vehicle density was associated with statistically significant decreases in lung function parameters after adjustment for smoking and socio-economic variables. Mean (95 % CI) post-bronchodilator % predicted FEV1 was 81 % (76–87) in the low (≤7179/day) compared with 71 % (67–75) in the high (≥15,270/day) vehicle exposure group (p < 0.05). Linear regression analysis in all subjects with COPD showed significant decrements in post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC ratio and % predicted FEV1 of 0.03 and 0.05 % respectively per daily increase in 1000 vehicles. In men with COPD (n = 150), the corresponding reductions were 0.03 and 0.06 %. Smaller, non-significant decrements were seen in females. No difference was seen in those without COPD.ConclusionsVehicle traffic density was associated with significant reductions in lung function in people with COPD. Urban planning should consider the health impacts for those with pre-existing respiratory conditions.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12931-016-0451-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Motor vehicle-related air pollution can potentially impair lung function
Biologically-based impacts of particulate matter (PM) on the lungs have been shown in a range of studies that have explored the response of the immune system to Nitschke et al Respiratory Research (2016) 17:138 particulates leading to exacerbations of symptoms and airflow restriction in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) [4]
The aim of this study was to examine effects on lung function of vehicular traffic density measured around the homes of adults with COPD using data from an ongoing cohort study conducted in Adelaide, South Australia (SA)
Summary
The effect of pollution in people with compromised pulmonary function such as in COPD has not been previously investigated. To examine the association of lung function with motor vehicle density in people with spirometrically determined COPD in a cross-sectional study. Biologically-based impacts of particulate matter (PM) on the lungs have been shown in a range of studies that have explored the response of the immune system to Nitschke et al Respiratory Research (2016) 17:138 particulates leading to exacerbations of symptoms and airflow restriction in people with COPD [4]. COPD is a progressive inflammatory disease and the additional effect of exposure to particulate matter and gases may add to the already ongoing inflammatory action and airflow obstruction which may have been originally caused by cigarette smoking or occupational exposures
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