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Immigrant Respiratory Health: a Diverse Perspective in Environmental Influences on Respiratory Health

  • Occupational Allergies (JA Poole, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Allergy and Asthma Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

The aim of this review is to examine the prevalence of and impact of environmental exposures in the workplace and home on immigrant respiratory health in the USA.

Recent Findings

Few studies report levels of workplace and home environmental exposures for immigrant children and adults, and documenting these findings is an important first step to addressing their respiratory health concerns. Rates of respiratory disease are lowest upon first arrival and increase with duration of residency in the USA. Community Health Workers may be an efficacious intervention to reducing exposures and improving lung health among immigrant populations.

Summary

Immigrant children and adults have a high risk of occupational and home environmental exposures that can negatively affect their respiratory health. While limited studies exist, more documentation of these exposures and their impact on immigrant person’s respiratory health are needed to begin to tackle these disparities.

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Acknowledgements

Thank you to Victoria Steigerwald for her assistance with formatting this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Division of General Pediatrics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Andrea A. Pappalardo

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Pulmonology/Allergy-Immunology/Sleep, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Andrea A. Pappalardo

  3. Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Allergy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Andrea A. Pappalardo

  4. Research Institute, NorthShore University Health System, Evanston, IL, USA

    Giselle Mosnaim

  5. Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care, NorthShore University Health System, Evanston, IL, USA

    Giselle Mosnaim

Authors
  1. Andrea A. Pappalardo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrea A. Pappalardo.

Ethics declarations

This review is in compliant with ethical standards.

Conflict of Interest

Giselle Mosnaim receives research grant support from GlaxoSmithKline and Propeller Health, owns stock options in Electrocore, and serves as a consultant and/or member of a scientific advisory board for Electrocore, GlaxoSmithKline, Teva, Novartis, Astra Zeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Propeller Health. Andrea Pappalardo served on the Speaker’s Bureau for Boehringer Ingelheim in 2017.

Human and Animal Rights Informed Consent

All reported studies/experiments with human or animal subjects performed by the authors have been previously published and complied with all applicable ethical standards (including the Helsinki declaration and its amendments, institutional/national research committee standards, and international/national/institutional guidelines).

Additional information

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Occupational Allergies

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Pappalardo, A.A., Mosnaim, G. Immigrant Respiratory Health: a Diverse Perspective in Environmental Influences on Respiratory Health. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep 18, 21 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-018-0779-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-018-0779-5

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