Abstract
There has been a rapid increase in prevalence of asthma in Chinese children. However, the current level is still lower when compared to the prevalence in Western countries. Environmental factors might be associated with the increasing prevalence of children’s asthma and asthmatic symptoms in China. In this study, a cross-sectional survey was performed in 10 randomly selected schools involving 1993 children (mean age 13 years old) in urban areas in Taiyuan, China. Data on children’s asthma and asthmatic symptoms were collected by a questionnaire taken from the International Study on Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC). Data on environmental exposure, including indoor and outdoor chemical air pollutants and indoor biological contamination in the settled dust, were quantitatively evaluated in the school environment. The results showed that the indoor school environment in urban areas in Taiyuan was contaminated with chemical air pollutants of outdoor origin (SO2, NO2, O3 and formaldehyde), and that the air pollutants were positively associated with children’s wheezing and daytime attacks of breathlessness. Different microbial components in the settled dust showed different effects regarding the prevalence of children’s respiratory symptoms, for example, muramic acid, a marker of gram positive bacteria, was negatively associated with children’s respiratory health, while ergosterol, a marker of fungi, showed positive associations. There was a low level of allergen contamination in the settled dust in the school environment and the detected airborne cat and dog allergens were not associated with any health parameters included in this study. In addition, environmental tobacco smoking (ETS) and emissions from new furniture in the home environment were risk factors for children’s respiratory symptoms. In conclusion, chemical air pollutants in schools may adversely affect children’s asthmatic symptoms while biological components resulted in more complex effects. This further research on different environmental factors and their potential interactions needs to be explored.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Asher, M.I., Keil, U., Anderson, H.R., et al. (1995). International Study of asthma and allergies in childhood (ISAAC): Rationale and methods. Eur Respir J, 8(3), 483–491.
Asher, M.I., Montefort, S., Bjorksten, B., et al. (2006). Worldwide time trends in the prevalence of symptoms of asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, and eczema in childhood: ISAAC phases one and three repeat multicountry cross-sectional surveys. Lancet, 368(9537), 733–743.
Chauhan, A.J., Inskip, H.M., Linaker, C.H., et al. (2003). Personal exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and the severity of virus-induced asthma in children. Lancet, 361(9373), 1939–1944.
Chen, Y.Z. (2004). Comparative analysis of the state of asthma prevalence in children from two nation-wide surveys in 1990 and 2000. Zhonghua Jie He He Hu Xi Za Zhi, 27(2), 112–116 (in Chinese).
Dong, G.H., Cao, Y., Ding, H.L., et al. (2007). Effects of environmental tobacco smoke on respiratory health of boys and girls from kindergarten: results from 15 districts of northern China. Indoor Air, 17(6), 475–483.
Dong, G.H., Ma, Y.N., Ding, H.L., et al. (2009). Pets keepting atin home, parental atopy, asthma, and asthma-related symptoms in 12,910 elementary school children from northeast China. Indoor Air, 19(2), 166–173.
Douwes, J., Pearce, N. (2002). Asthma and the westernization ‘package’. Int J Epidemiol, 31(6), 1098–1102.
Emenius, G., Larsson, P.H., Wickman, M., et al. (2001). Dispersion of horse allergen in the ambient air, detected with sandwich ELISA. Allergy, 56(8), 771–774.
Gent, J.F., Triche, E.W., Holford, T.R., et al. (2003). Association of low-level ozone and fine particles with respiratory symptoms in children with asthma. JAMA, 290(14), 1859–1867.
Heinrich, J., Gehring, U., Douwes, J., et al. (2001). Pets and vermin are associated with high endotoxin levels in house dust. Clin Exp Allergy, 31(12), 1839–1845.
Janson, C., Anto, J., Burney, P., et al. (2001). The european community respiratory health survey: what are the main results so far? European community respiratory health Survey II. Eur Respir J, 18(3), 598–611.
Karlsson, A.S., Hedren, M., Almqvist, C., et al. (2002). Evaluation of Petri dish sampling for assessment of cat allergen in airborne dust. Allergy, 57(2), 164–168.
Kim, J.L., Elfman, L., Mi, Y., et al. (2005). Current asthma and respiratory symptoms among pupils in relation to dietary factors and allergens in the school environment. Indoor Air, 15(3), 170–182.
Ko, F.W., Tam, W., Wong, T.W., et al. (2007). Effects of air pollution on asthma hospitalization rates in different age groups in Hong Kong. Clin Exp Allergy, 37(9), 1312–1319.
Leung, T.F., Wong, G.W., (2008). The Asian side of asthma and allergy. Current Opinion Allergy Clinical Immunology, 8(5), 384–390.
Liu, A. H., 2002. Endotoxin exposure in allergy and asthma: Reconciling a paradox. J Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 109(3), 379–392.
Mi, Y.H., Norback, D., Tao, J., et al. (2006). Current asthma and respiratory symptoms among pupils in Shanghai, China: Influence of building ventilation, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and formaldehyde in classrooms. Indoor Air, 16(6), 454–464.
Norback, D., Mi, Y.H., Larsson, L., et al. (2002). Current asthma, respiratory infections and hypersennesitivity oft moulds in pupils in Shanghai, China, in relation to microbial components in the classrooms. The 9th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, Monterey, California.
Peat, J.K., Dickerson, J., Li, J. (1998). Effects of damp and mould in the home on respiratory health: a review of the literature. Allergy, 53(2), 120–128.
Radon, K. (2006). The two sides of the “endotoxin coin”. Occup Environ Med, 63(1), 73–78, 10.
Saraf, A., Larsson, L., Burge, H., et al. (1997). Quantification of ergosterol and 3-hydroxy fatty acids in settled house dust by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry: comparison with fungal culture and determination of endotoxin by a Limulus amebocyte lysate assay. Appl Environ Microbiol, 63(7), 2554–2559.
Simpson, A., Custovic, A. (2005). Pets and the development of allergic sensitization. Curr Allergy Asthma Report, 5(3), 212–220.
Smedje, G., Norback, D. (2001). Irritants and allergens at school in relation to furnishings and cleaning. Indoor Air, 11(2), 127–133.
Smedje, G., Norback, D., Edling, C. (1997). Asthma among secondary schoolchildren in relation to the school environment. Clin Exp Allergy, 27(11), 1270–1278.
Sporik, R., Chapman, M.D., Platts-Mills, T.A. (1992). House dust mite exposure as a cause of asthma. Clin Exp Allergy, 22(10), 897–906.
Sundell, J., Zuber, A. (1996). Ozone and other photochemical oxidants in ambient and indoor air—properties, sources and concentrations. Scand J Work Environ Health, 22 (Suppl 3), 5–14.
van Strien, R.T., Engel, R., Holst, O., et al. (2004). Microbial exposure of rural school children, as assessed by levels of N-acetyl-muramic acid in mattress dust, and its association with respiratory health. J Allergy Clin Immunol, 113(5), 860–867.
von Hertzen, L., Haahtela, T. (2006). Disconnection of man and the soil: reason for the asthma and atopy epidemic? J Allergy Clinical Immunol, 117(2), 334–344.
Watts, J. (2006). Doctors blame air pollution for China’s asthma increases. Lancet, 368(9537), 719–720.
WHO, W.H.O. (2005). WHO air quality guidelines global updata.
Wilkins, C.K., Clausen, P.A., Wolkoff, P., et al. (2001). Formation of strong airway irritants in mixtures of isoprene/ozone and isoprene/ozone/nitrogen dioxide. Environ Health Perspect, 109(9), 937–941.
Wong, G.W., Leung, T.F., Ko, F.W., et al. (2004). Declining asthma prevalence in Hong Kong Chinese schoolchildren. Clinical land Experimental Allergy, 34(10), 1550–1555.
Zhang, J.J., Hu, W., Wei, F., et al. (2002). Children’s respiratory morbidity prevalence in relation to air pollution in four Chinese cities. Environ Health Perspect, 110(9), 961–967.
Zhao, J., Ma, Y., Chen, Y.Z., et al. (2003). Prevalence of allergic respiratory disorders and skin prick test in Beijing urban and suburban children: A comparative study. Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi, 83(21), 1879–1881.
Zhao, Z. H., Elfman, L., Wang, Z.H., et al. (2006). A comparative study of asthma, pollen, cat and dog allergy among pupils and allergen levels in schools in Taiyuan city, China and Uppsala, Sweden. Indoor Air, 16(6), 404–413.
Zhao, Z., Zhang, Z., Wang, Z., et al. (2008). Asthmatic symptoms among pupils in relation to winter indoor and outdoor air pollution in schools in Taiyuan, China. Environment Health Perspective, 116(1), 90–97.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Zhejiang University Press, Hangzhou and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Zhao, ZH., Wang, ZH., Zhang, Z., Norbäck, D., Wieslander, G. (2012). Prevalence of Asthma and Asthmatic Symptoms in Children in Relation to Environmental Factors —Epidemiological Studies in School Children in Taiyuan, China. In: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Allergies. Advanced Topics in Science and Technology in China. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31609-8_26
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31609-8_26
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-31608-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-31609-8
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)