ARTICLE
Carbon monoxide pollution is associated with decreased lung function in asthmatic adults.
Eur Respir J. 2009 Aug 13. Canova C, Torresan S, Simonato L, Scapellato ML, Tessari R, Visentin A, Lotti M, Maestrelli P. University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
The aim of this study was to test the effects of exposure to air pollutants on lung function in a panel of 19 adult asthmatics living in Padova followed for five 30-day periods during two consecutive years (1492 morning and 1434 evening analyzed measures). Peak expiratory flow (PEF) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) were measured by a pocket electronic meter. Daily levels of air pollutants and meteorological variables were collected at city outdoor monitoring sites. We observed inverse statistically significant associations between morning and evening PEF and CO (p=0.01-0.03) without clear differences between lags (0-3 days). An increment of 1 mg.m(-3) of CO was associated to a PEF variation which ranged from -2.6% to -2.8%. All effect estimates on PEF for CO remained significant and even increased after controlling for PM10, NO2 and SO2 in single and multi-pollutant models. A similar trend was observed for FEV1, but the associations were not statistically significant. A not statistically significant inverse relationship between evening PEF and SO2 was also detected. PEF and FEV1 were not related to PM10 and NO2 concentrations.
Our results indicate that in this panel of adult asthmatics the worsening of lung function is associated with the exposure to gaseous pollutants and it occurs at levels of CO and SO2 lower than current European standards.
