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Background

Background Air pollutants and fungal spores have been known to affect lung function. However, studies examining combined health effects of both have been relatively lacking. Objective

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  1. Background Air pollutants and fungal spores have been known to affect lung function. However, studies examining combined health effects of both have been relatively lacking. Objective We conducted a longitudinally school-based respiratory health study to investigate whether exposure to air pollutants and fungal spores might exacerbate childhood respiratory health. Materials and Methods Study participants were 100 elementary and middle school students in Taipei County, Taiwan. A structured respiratory health questionnaire was administered, followed by monthly spirometry from October 2007 to June 2008. Forced expiratory vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), forced expiratory flow at 25%, 50%, 75% of FVC (FEF25%, FEF50%, FEF75%), and average expiratory flow over the middle half of FVC (FEF25-75%) were recorded. Monthly lung function measurements were standardized for each participating students. During the study period, complete daily monitoring data for particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5, organic carbon, elemental carbon, nitrates, and sulfates) and criteria air pollutants (CO, NO2, SO2, and O3) were obtained from EPA monitoring station and Aerosol Supersite. Fungal spores were measured from Sunday to Saturday in the week of lung function measurements of each study month. Principal component analysis was used to classify air pollutants. Lung function measurements were compared to air pollutants and fungal spores using regression analysis with lag 1 day modeling. Results PM2.5 and total fungal spores one day before the lung function measurements were negatively associated with FVC and FEV1 in both boys and girls. Further analysis of PM2.5 showed that nitrates and sulfates were those responsible for these effects. In addition, PM2.5 was negatively associated with FEF50%, FEF75%, and FEF25-75% for girls, with sulfates and nitrates being responsible for such effects. Conclusion The findings of this study suggested that exposure to PM2.5 and fungal spores reduced lung function of school-age children. Table 1. Characteristics of participating schoolchildren at entry of study in October 2007 Effects of fine particulates and fungal spores on lung function in schoolchildrenBing-Yu Chen1, Chang-Chuan Chan1, Yueliang Leon Guo2 1Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, National Taiwan University2Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine and NTU Hospital Figure 1. Ambient air pollutants measurements in Sinjhuang city, Taipei County, Taiwan (From Oct. 2007 to Jun. 2008). (A) Particulate matter. (B) Fungal spores. (C) Criteria air pollutants.

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