Effects of heavy industrial pollution on respiratory function in the children of Cubatao, Brazil: a preliminary report.
Under a cooperative agreement between New York University and the Environmental Protection Agency, and in collaboration with the University of Sao Paulo (USP), a study is ongoing in Cubatao, Brazil, to try to establish exposure-response relationships on the impact of specific industrial effluents on respiratory function in school-age children. Cubatao, located on the coast about 44 km from the city of Sao Paulo, is surrounded by U-shaped mountains (approximately 800 m) covered with subtropical forests. Its area is approximately 160 km2, and it has a population of approximately 90,000. The geography is such that it causes a consistent diurnal land-sea breeze pattern and the opposite during the night, with low dispersion of the air pollutants. In a small area (approximately 40 km2) against the mountains there is a concentration of over 20 large plants: oil refinery; iron and steel mill; fertilizer, cement, and gypsum production; coke kilns; and chemical, paint, and many other ancillary plants. During the 1988 school year, March through June, August through November, 600 six-year-old children, attending six different kindergarten schools, underwent monthly spirometry tests. Because the children live within a 500 m radius of their school, pollution monitors were located on each of the six schools. Particles were collected using dichotomous stacked filter units placed on 20 m towers to reduce the influence of dust from unpaved roads. The units use different pore size filters for coarse, 2 to 10 microns, and fine particles, (dp) less than 2 microns, and took separate samples for day and nighttime.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Spektor
D M
DM
Institute of Environmental Medicine, New York University Medical Center, NY 10016.
Hofmeister
V A
VA
Artaxo
P
P
Brague
J A
JA
Echelar
F
F
Nogueira
D P
DP
Hayes
C
C
Thurston
G D
GD
Lippmann
M
M
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000032:analysis; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012143:Respiratory Physiological Phenomena; D013147:Spirometry
D000393:Air Pollutants