title: Association of urban particle numbers and sources with lung function among children with asthma or allergies.
abstract: Previous studies have reported sources of particle number pollution in urban air, but have not evaluated relationships between respiratory health and these sources. We compared, among children with asthma or allergies, the associations of spirometric lung functions with increased exposure to source-specific versus size-segregated particle number concentrations (PNC). Hourly measurements of PNC were acquired from the aerosol Supersite in New Taipei, Taiwan. Spirometry (FVC, FEV1, and FEF) was recorded monthly for 59 children with asthma or allergies at five schools during 2007-2008. After co-pollutant adjustment for ozone, we found a 0.21 and 0.17 L decrease in FVC [95% confidence interval (CI): -0.35, -0.06 L] and FEV1 (95% CI: -0.32, -0.03 L), respectively, with an interquartile range increase (1879.7#/cm(3)) in secondary aerosol contribution observed on the previous day. In addition, we found no significant associations of FVC with accumulation mode (0.1 μm<aerodynamic diameter<2.5 μm) PNC. Our findings suggest that PNC of secondary origin is most responsible for pollution-related respiratory effects among children living in urban Taipei. Studies that rely on exposure to size-segregated PNC may underestimate PM health impacts.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, 17 Xu-Zhou Road, Taipei 10055, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ya-Ru
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Li-Ting
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Bing-Yu
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Institute of Health and Environment, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ho
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Institute of Health and Environment, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Seung-Muk
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, 17 Xu-Zhou Road, Taipei 10055, Taiwan; Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: leonguo@ntu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Yue Leon
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, 17 Xu-Zhou Road, Taipei 10055, Taiwan; Institute of Environmental Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: changfu@ntu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Chang-Fu
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019570:Inhalation Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008168:Lung; D008297:Male; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis; D013147:Spirometry; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter
keywords: Air pollution; Children; Lung function; Particle number; Source apportionment