Personal Exposure to Black Carbon and Nitrogen Dioxide and Childhood Asthma Exacerbation in Seaport-Adjacent Communities

Abstract

Introduction. Ambient and traffic-related air pollution has been linked to exacerbation of asthma in adults and children. Our community-academic partnership is evaluating the effects of diesel emissions and chronic psychosocial stress on asthma exacerbation among children in communities adjacent to the Newark-Elizabeth Seaport in New Jersey, USA. Methods. In a panel study, children with physician-diagnosed asthma, aged 9-14 years old, wear Ogawa passive samplers for NO2, and AE-51 microaethalometers (Aethlabs) to measure black carbon (BC) as a marker for exposure to diesel particulate matter for up to 30 consecutive days. Daily measurements include exhaled nitric oxide (eNO), spirometry, symptoms, medication use, and time-activity logs. We measure stress with the UCLA Chronic and Episodic Stress Interview for Children, diurnal variability in salivary cortisol, and response to an experimental acute stressor. Artifact in the BC data was cleaned using the method of Cai et al. (2013). We analyzed associations between previous 24-hr mean NO2 or BC and daily eNO among the first 6 subjects using mixed linear models. Results: Of 35 children enrolled to date, 33 completed the study. In this preliminary analysis, mean (SD) 24-hr concentrations of BC and NO2 were 1.0 (0.7) ug/m3 and 46 (18) ppb, respectively. On average, within-child increases in BC were significantly associated with acute increases in eNO (p <0.01). Within-child NO2 also increased with eNO and between-child differences in average BC and NO2 were positively associated with eNO, however these results were no statistically significant. Conclusions: Our results to date demonstrate the feasibility of measuring personal exposure to BC and NO2 among children with asthma in a participatory research project in an Environmental Justice community. Future analyses will assess interactions between chronic stress and asthma responses to traffic-related air pollutants. NIEHS ES005022 and EPA STAR R834579