[Effects of air pollution on children's health in a city in Southeastern Brazil].
OBJECTIVE
Of the effects of air pollution on children's health, increased pneumonia admission rate is one of the most important. The study aimed at estimating the association between pneumonia admissions and increased air pollutants.


METHODS
An ecological time-series study was carried out in the municipality of São José dos Campos, Southeastern Brazil, in the years 2000 and 2001. Daily records of pneumonia admissions, air pollutants (SO2, O3, and PM10) and weather conditions (temperature and humidity) were analyzed. The correlations between the study variables were estimated using Pearson's correlation. The associations between pneumonia and air pollutants were estimated using generalized additive Poisson regression models. The percentage increase (and their respective 95% CI) in pneumonia admission rate was estimated for the interquartile range of each air pollutant studied.


RESULTS
The three pollutants analyzed presented lagged effects on pneumonia admission rate, beginning at lag 3 or 4 and lasting for no more than two days. The 8-day cumulative effect estimate showed that an increase of 24.7 mg/m3 in PM10 concentration increased pneumonia admission rate in 9.8%.


CONCLUSIONS
The study corroborates that adverse health effects of air pollutants can be observed even in medium-sized cities. The magnitude of the effect was similar to that found in the city of São Paulo. Moreover, children are highly susceptible to air pollution exposure.
Nascimento
Luiz Fernando C
LF
Departamento de Medicina, Universidade de Taubaté, Taubaté, SP, Brazil. lfcn@unitau.br
Pereira
Luiz Alberto A
LA
Braga
Alfésio L F
AL
Módolo
Maria Carolina C
MC
Carvalho
João Andrade
JA
D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004782:Environmental Health; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014504:Urban Health; D014505:Urban Population