Road pollution blamed for higher allergy ri...(ownership and number of siblings researc...),Health

Date:6/13/2008

ownership, and number of siblings, researchers found significant positive associations between distance to the nearest road and asthmatic bronchitis, hay fever, eczema and allergic sensitizations. They also found a distant-dependent relationship between proximity to the road and risk of allergic sensitization, with those living closest to major roads having a nearly 50 percent greater risk of allergic sensitization.

Previous studies have found that pollutants and allergic sensitization are linked, but using distance from major roads as a proxy for pollutant exposure has been confused by the socioeconomic factors that are often closely linked to such locales. However, in Munich, as with other older European cities, the roads and buildings are structured so that economic advantages are not necessarily correlated with living further from the main thoroughfares. In this study, it was possible to determine that economic factors were not a confounding variable in the analysis, but there was a clear difference in the children's allergic development with relation to their proximity to a road.

"We consistently found strong associations between the distance to the nearest main road and the allergic disease outcomes," wrote Dr. Heinrich. "Children living closer than 50 meters to a busy street had the highest probability of getting allergic symptoms, compared to children living further away."

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Contact: Keely Savoie ksavoie@thoracic.org 212-315-8620 American Thoracic Society Source:Eurekalert

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