Time Trends In Residential Indoor Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Exposures Among Inner City Children

Abstract

S A T U R D A Y 72 1. Ambient Air Pollution and Allergic Sensitization: Results from the National Health and Examination Survey (NHANES) 20052006 C. Weir, K. Yeatts, W. Vizuete, S. London, P. M. Salo, R. Jaramillo, D. Zeldin; University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, SRA International Inc., Durham, NC, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Durham, NC. RATIONALE: Allergic sensitization is a risk factor for asthma and allergic disease. To date, no large-scale population-based studies have examined the relationship between air pollution and allergic sensitization in the U.S.We hypothesized that exposure to NO2, PM2.5, and O3 would be associated with increased odds of allergic sensitization. METHODS: We analyzed air pollution estimates from monitored data and the Community Multiscale Air Quality Model linked to participants ages 6 and older from NHANES. We assessed sensitization to five categories of allergen-specific IgE: 1) any of 19 allergens; 2) inhalant allergens; 3) outdoor allergens; 4) indoor allergens; and 5) food allergens. Logistic regression was used to produce odds ratios per 10 parts per billion for NO2 and ozone, per 10 mg/m 3 for PM10 and per 1 mg/m 3 for PM2.5 . RESULTS: Monitored and modeled estimates of NO2 were associated with any (n54331 OR51.25, 95% CI 1.10 1.41, n56227 OR51.15, 95% CI 1.05 1.26), inhalant (n54331 OR51.23 95% CI 1.07 1.41, n56227 OR51.17, 95% CI 1.04 1.33), indoor (n54331 OR51.15 95% CI 1.01 -1.30, n56227 OR51.17 95% CI 1.05 1.31) respectively. Monitored NO2 was associated with outdoor allergen-specific IgE (n54331 OR51.25, 95% CI 1.04 1.49). Monitored and modeled PM2.5 was associated with indoor allergen-specific IgE (n55298 OR51.05 95% CI 1.03 -1.08, n56227 OR51.04 95% CI 1.03 1.06). CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to ambient air pollution is associated with allergic sensitization in the U.S. population.