Exposure to air pollution as an infant increases children's risk of developing allergies.
Exposure to air pollution as a young child has already been linked to numerous health problems. Now Canadian scientists have discovered that if your lungs are irritated by air pollution as an infant, you're more likely to experience allergic reactions to common allergens like pollen, mold and pet dander later.
Published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, the study looked at data from the CHILD Study, which is currently being conducted across Canada and includes more than 3,500 families and their children. Using information from skin allergy tests taken by 2,477 children at one year of age and data on nitrogen dioxide levels in their home areas, they compared the prevalence of allergies in children who lived in more polluted areas with those who lived in places with cleaner air. They found that the children who were exposed to high levels of pollutants in infancy were more likely to suffer from allergies. In Vancouver, a full 23.5 percent of children developed allergen sensitivities, with Toronto and Edmonton following close behind at 17 percent each.
"With the increasing rates of allergies amongst children in Canada and elsewhere, we were interested in determining if air pollution from traffic might be partially responsible. This is the first study to find a link between air pollution and measured allergic sensitization during the first year," said senior study author Michael Brauer of the University of British Columbia School of Population and Public Health.
The study also found that having a cat or a dog in the house and having older siblings both decreased children's risk of developing allergies for reasons that remain unclear.
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