Published ahead of print on September 10, 2009, doi:10.1164/rccm.200901-0122OC Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., Volume 180, Number 11, December 2009, 1107-1113 A more recent version of this article appeared on December 1, 2009
Submitted on January 22, 2009 Ambient Metals, Elemental Carbon, and Wheeze and Cough in New York City Children through Age 24 MonthsMolini M Patel1,1 Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York City, New York, United States, 2 Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health and, the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York City, New York, United States, 3 Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, New York City, New York, United States, 4 The Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States, 5 Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health and, the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York City, New York, United States * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rlm14{at}columbia.edu.
Rationale: The effects of exposure to specific components of ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5), including metals and elemental carbon (EC), have not been fully characterized in young children. Objectives: To compare temporal associations among PM2.5; individual metal constituents of ambient PM2.5, including nickel (Ni), vanadium (V), and zinc (Zn); and EC and longitudinal reports of respiratory symptoms through age 24 months. Methods: Study participants were selected from the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH) birth cohort recruited in New York City between 1998 and 2006. Respiratory symptom data were collected by questionnaire every 3 months, through age 24 months. Ambient pollutant data were obtained from state-operated stationary monitoring sites located within the study area. For each subject, 3-month average inverse-distance weighted concentrations of Ni, V, Zn, EC, and PM2.5 were calculated for each symptom reporting period based on the questionnaire date and the preceding 3 months. Associations between pollutants and symptoms were characterized using generalized additive mixed effects models, adjusting for sex, ethnicity, environmental tobacco smoke exposure, and calendar time. Measurements and Main Results: Increases in ambient Ni and V concentrations were associated significantly with increased probability of wheeze. Increases in EC also were associated significantly with cough during “cold/flu season”. Total PM2.5 was not associated with either wheeze or cough. Conclusions: These results suggest that exposure to ambient metals and elemental carbon from heating oil and/or traffic at levels characteristic of urban environments may be associated with respiratory symptoms among very young children. Key words: traffic • heating oil combustion • metals • asthma
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