Risk of Childhood Asthma Prevalence Attributable to Residential Proximity to Major Roads in Montreal, Canada

• Published in: Canadian journal of public health 2012-03, Vol.103 (2), p.113-118
• Main Authors: Price, Karine, Plante, Celine, Goudreau, Sophie, Boldo, Elena Isabel Pascua, Perron, Stéphane, Smargiassi, Audrey
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age groups; Air pollutants; Air Pollutants - analysis; Air pollution; Asthma; Asthma - epidemiology; Asthma - etiology; Asthma in children; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma; Codes; Confidence intervals; Diagnosis; Emissions; Environmental Exposure - adverse effects; Epidemiology; Female; General aspects; Health aspects; Health outcomes; Heart attacks; Highways; Humans; Incidence; Infant; Male; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Meta-analysis; Miscellaneous; Motor vehicle traffic; Pneumology; Pollutants; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Prevalence; Public Health; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH; Quebec - epidemiology; Residence Characteristics; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Roads; Roads & highways; Studies; Traffic estimation; Vehicle Emissions - analysis
• ISSN: 0008-4263; 1920-7476
• DOI: 10.1007/BF03404213

Objectives: Exposure to traffic-related air pollutants plays a role in several health outcomes. A large body of evidence tends to link asthma in children with traffic exposure. Increasing asthma prevalence and incidence in children in Canadian cities has been of concern for public health authorities. The following study focuses on estimating the risk of asthma prevalence attributable to residing in proximity to major roads on the Island of Montreal, Canada. Methods: Risk functions pertaining to asthma in children and residential proximity to major roads were selected from the literature and applied to Montreal. Asthma prevalence was taken from population-based studies. Population data were retrieved from Canadian census. Exposure was estimated using the proximity to major road and highway category of the Desktop Mapping Technologies Inc. database (DMTI Spatial Inc.). Results: Based on different studies, the percentage of prevalent asthma cases attributable to residing within 50 metres of a major road or highway for children aged 2, 4 and 6 years varied between 2.4% (0-4.3), 5.6% (0.1-8.6) and 5.9% (0.1-9.0). For the 5-7 year age group residing within 75 m of a major road or highway, the percent of cases was 6.4% (2.6-9.3). For children aged 8 to 10 residing within 75 m of a highway only, the percent of cases was 0.7% (0.2-0.9). Conclusion: These numbers represent the best crude estimates and are an indication of a possible range of cases linked to residential proximity to major roads. As there are uncertainties linked to the application of exposure-response functions, these estimates will be reassessed as new evidence is gathered through further research. Objectif : L'exposition aux polluants atmosphériques liés au trafic routier contribue à plusieurs résultats sanitaires. De nombreuses preuves tendent à lier l'asthme chez les enfants à l'exposition au trafic routier. La prévalence et l'incidence croissantes de l'asthme chez les enfants dans les villes du Canada préoccupent les autorités de santé publique. Nous avons estimé le risque de prévalence de l'asthme imputable au fait de résider à proximité de grandes artères sur l'île de Montréal, au Canada. Méthode : Nous avons sélectionné dans la littérature scientifique et appliqué à Montréal les fonctions de risque afférentes à l'asthme chez les enfants et au fait d'habiter à proximité de grandes artères. La prévalence de l'asthme vient d'une étude populationnelle. Les données démographiques sont extraites du