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Gaseous air pollution and atopy
Author(s) -
D. Charpin,
Laurence Pascal,
J. Birnbaum,
A. Armengaud,
Roland Sambuc,
A. Lanteaume,
D. Vervloët
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
clinical and experimental allergy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.462
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1365-2222
pISSN - 0954-7894
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2222.1999.00685.x
Subject(s) - atopy , epidemiology , confounding , allergen , air pollutants , environmental health , medicine , air pollution , logistic regression , allergy , pollutant , airborne allergen , aeroallergen , mite , cross sectional study , immunology , toxicology , biology , pathology , ecology
Background Photochemical air pollutants are commonly thought to be implicated in the gradual increase in the prevalence of atopy. However, no epidemiological data are available. Methods To clarify this issue, we performed a cross‐sectional epidemiological survey in 2604 primary school children, 10 and 11 years old, living in seven communities among which some have the highest photochemical exposure in France. The mean levels of the main gaseous air pollutants (SO 2 , NO 2 and O 3 ) were measured during a 2‐month period in 1993. The protocol included a standardized questionnaire, skin prick tests to common aeroallergens and in the atopic children, collection of a sample of mattress dust to measure group 1 mite allergens. Atopy was only defined on the basis of the skin prick tests. Results Percentage of positive skin tests and the number of positive skin tests were similar in the different communities looked at. The distribution of dust samples with a group 1 allergen level greater than 2 μg/g dust, was also similar. Logistic regression analysis including potential confounding factors, as well as the mean level of air pollutants, did not demonstrate any association between atopy and mean SO 2 , NO 2 and O 3 levels. Conclusion The increase in photochemical air pollutants is unlikely to be a major determinant for the recent increase in the prevalence of atopy.