Indoor Environmental Differences between Inner City and Suburban Homes of Children with Asthma (original) (raw)

Abstract

We conducted this study to compare environmental exposures in suburban homes of children with asthma to exposures in inner city homes of children with asthma, to better understand important differences of indoor pollutant exposure that might contribute to increased asthma morbidity in the inner city. Indoor PM10, PM2.5, NO2, O3, and airborne and dust allergen levels were measured in the homes of 120 children with asthma, 100 living in inner city Baltimore and 20 living in the surrounding counties. Home conditions and health outcome measures were also compared. The inner city and suburban homes differed in ways that might affect airborne environmental exposures. The inner city homes had more cigarette smoking (67% vs. 5%, p < .001), signs of disrepair (77% vs. 5%, p < .001), and cockroach (64% vs. 0%, p < .001) and mouse (80% vs. 5%, p < .001) infestation. The inner city homes had higher geometric mean (GM) levels (p < .001) of PM10 (47 vs. 18 μg/m3), PM2.5 (34 vs. 8.7 μg/m3), NO2 [19 ppb vs. below detection (BD)], and O3 (1.9 vs. .015 ppb) than suburban homes. The inner city homes had lower GM bedroom dust allergen levels of dust mite (.29 vs. 1.2 μg/g, p = .022), dog (.38 vs. 5.5 μg/g, p < .001) and cat (.75 vs. 2.4 μg/g, p = .039), but higher levels of mouse (3.2 vs. .013 μg/g, p < .001) and cockroach (4.5 vs. .42 U/g, p < .001). The inner city homes also had higher GM airborne mouse allergen levels (.055 vs. .016 ng/m3, p = .002). Compared with the homes of suburban children with asthma, the homes of inner city Baltimore children with asthma had higher levels of airborne pollutants and home characteristics that predispose to greater asthma morbidity.

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Abbreviations

PM10 :

Particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 10 μm

PM2.5 :

Particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm

PM:

Particulate matter

Ppb:

Parts per billion

BD:

Below detection

GM:

Geometric mean

GSD:

Geometric standard deviation

AM:

Arithmetic mean

ASD:

Arithmetic standard deviation

OR:

Odds ratio

SEM:

Standard error of the mean

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Acknowledgment

Funding sources: #A107007, #R18-HL058942, #EPA R82672401, #NIEHS ES09608

There is no conflict of interest with products used in the study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
    Elinor Simons, Jean Curtin-Brosnan & Peyton A. Eggleston
  2. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
    Timothy Buckley & Patrick Breysse
  3. Division of Allergy and Immunology, Albany Medical College, 215 Washington Avenue Extension, Albany, NY 12205, USA
    Elinor Simons

Authors

  1. Elinor Simons
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  2. Jean Curtin-Brosnan
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  3. Timothy Buckley
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  4. Patrick Breysse
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  5. Peyton A. Eggleston
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Corresponding author

Correspondence toElinor Simons.

Additional information

Simons, Curtin-Brosnan, and Eggleston are with the The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; Buckley and Breysse are with the The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA; Simons is with the Divisions of Allergy and Immunology, Albany Medical College, Albany, NY, USA.

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Simons, E., Curtin-Brosnan, J., Buckley, T. et al. Indoor Environmental Differences between Inner City and Suburban Homes of Children with Asthma.J Urban Health 84, 577–590 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-007-9205-3

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