Source: Annual Congress 2002 - Exposure to chemicals
Disease area: Airway diseases

Abstract

The follow-up of cohorts of adults from 29 European centers of the former ECRHS I (1989-92) investigates long-term effects of exposure to ambient air pollution on incidence, course, and prognosis of respiratory diseases, in particular asthma and change of pulmonary function.
PM2.5 is not routinely monitored in Europe. We measured PM2.5 concentrations in 21 participating centers to estimate 'background' exposure in these cities. Winter (Nov. - Feb.) and annual mean (all months) values of PM2.5 were determined from PM2.5 measures made using the [dsquote]Basel PM2.5 Sampler[dsquote] (EPA WINS impactor and PQ167 from BGI, www.bgiusa.com). Sampling was conducted for seven days per month for a year. A standardized protocol involving the weighing of filters in a single central laboratory was followed.
Annual and winter mean concentrations vary substantially being lowest in Iceland and highest in centers in Northern Italy. Annual mean concentrations ranged from 4 μg/m3 to 44 μg/m3 and winter mean concentrations ranged from 5 μg/m3 to 66 μg/m3. Seasonal variability did not follow the same pattern across all centers.
The range of PM2.5 concentrations obtained in ECRHS II is larger than in other current cohort studies on long-term effects of air pollution, with the annual mean reaching a max/min-ratio of >10, and an 90th/10th-percentile ratio of 3.4. This substantial variation in PM2.5 exposure will improve statistical power in future multi-level health analysis and to some degree may compensate for the lack of information on within-city variability. The results will be discussed in the exposure assessment framework of ECRHS II.

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M. Hazenkamp, J. Sunyer, J. Heinrich, B. Forsberg, D. Jarvis, P. Burney, N. Künzli (Basel, Switzerland; Barcelona, Spain; Los Angeles, United States Of America; London, United Kingdom). PM2.5 assessment at 21 study centres of ECRHS II (European community respiratory health survey II). Eur Respir J 2002; 20: Suppl. 38, 863

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