Childhood air pollution linked to adult lung health

A new study has found that air pollution inhaled during childhood is one of the factors affecting lung health in adults.

The study dates back to 1992, when researchers began investigating the effects of air pollution on groups of children in California, some of whom are now in their 40s.

Dr. Erica Garcia and colleagues from the University of Southern California surveyed about 1,300 people, who answered questions about their income, lifestyle (including smoking), home addresses, and health. This was compared with their childhood health and local air pollution.

The first finding was that people who had greater childhood exposure to particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide pollution were more likely to develop bronchitis symptoms as adults.

This relationship was stronger for those who had asthma and lung problems in childhood, meaning these people had impairments that persisted into adulthood.

The second finding was unexpected: There was a link between childhood air pollution and bronchitis symptoms in adults who had no lung problems in childhood. This suggests that the damage caused by childhood air pollution may not become apparent until adulthood.

“This was surprising,” Garcia said. “We thought that the effects of air pollution on asthma or bronchitis symptoms in childhood would be a major pathway through which childhood air pollution exposure affects adult respiratory health.”

It was important for the study to distinguish between the lasting effects of childhood exposure and the effects of the air that adults breathe, so the researchers looked at each person's recent exposure to air pollution and factored that into the analysis.

“We wanted to see if childhood exposure was still associated with adult bronchitis symptoms, even after controlling for current exposure, and it was,” Garcia explained.

Air pollution has changed a lot since the 1950s, and even since the 1990s, but studies in Stockholm and London continue to show that 21st-century air pollution is reducing children’s lung development. That means smaller lungs when they grow up, and a potential lifelong health legacy.

Commenting on the implications of her new research, Garcia said: “This underscores the importance of reducing exposure to air pollution for everyone, including children who are at a time of increased exposure to the effects of air pollution.”