Early-Life Air Pollution Exposure, Neighborhood Poverty, and Childhood Asthma in the United States, 1990–2014

Nicole Kravitz-Wirtz, Samantha Teixeira, Anjum Hajat, Bongki Woo, Kyle Crowder and David Takeuchi
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Nicole Kravitz-Wirtz: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA
Samantha Teixeira: School of Social Work, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
Anjum Hajat: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Bongki Woo: School of Social Work, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
Kyle Crowder: Department of Sociology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
David Takeuchi: School of Social Work, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 6, 1-14

Abstract: Ambient air pollution is a well-known risk factor of various asthma-related outcomes, however, past research has often focused on acute exacerbations rather than asthma development. This study draws on a population-based, multigenerational panel dataset from the United States to assess the association of childhood asthma risk with census block-level, annual-average air pollution exposure measured during the prenatal and early postnatal periods, as well as effect modification by neighborhood poverty. Findings suggest that early-life exposures to nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), a marker of traffic-related pollution, and fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), a mixture of industrial and other pollutants, are positively associated with subsequent childhood asthma diagnosis (OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.10–1.41 and OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.06–1.46, respectively, per interquartile range (IQR) increase in each pollutant (NO 2 IQR = 8.51 ppb and PM 2.5 IQR = 4.43 µ/m 3 )). These effects are modified by early-life neighborhood poverty exposure, with no or weaker effects in moderate- and low- (versus high-) poverty areas. This work underscores the importance of a holistic, developmental approach to elucidating the interplay of social and environmental contexts that may create conditions for racial-ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in childhood asthma risk.

Keywords: asthma; children; prenatal; postnatal; early-life; air pollution; nitrogen dioxide; particulate matter; neighborhood poverty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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