Exposure to Indoor Pollutants and Wheeze and Asthma Development during Early Childhood

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Evridiki Patelarou¹  Nikolaos Tzanakis⁴  Frank J. Kelly³  Gary Adamkiewicz² 

[1] Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, King’s College London, London SE18WA, UK;id="af1-ijerph-12-03993">1Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, King’s College London, London SE18WA,;MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, NIHR Environmental Hazards Health Protection Research Unit, King’s College London, London SE19NH, UK; E-Mail:;Department of Thoracic Medicine, Medical School, University of Crete, Heraklion 71414, Greece; E-Mail:

关键词: environmental exposures;    indoor air pollution;    bio-aerosols;    respiratory disease;    asthma;    wheezing;    childhood;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph120403993

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Background: This review aimed to summarize existing epidemiological evidence of the association between quantitative estimates of indoor air pollution with early childhood respiratory disease. Methods: We carried out a systematic literature search of peer-reviewed epidemiological studies undertaken in “westernized” countries that have assessed exposure to indoor pollutants and asthma and wheeze from infancy up to the age of 5. Results: The search, between January 2004 and February 2014 yielded 1840 studies for consideration. Following application of eligibility criteria to titles and abstracts 22 independent studies were deemed relevant for further review. Two additional studies were next identified through examination of the references’ lists of these studies. Of these 24 selected studies, 16 adopted a prospective cohort design and 8 were case-control studies. Fourteen studies assessed exposure to bio-aerosols, 8 studies assessed exposure to specific air chemicals and two studies assessed exposure to bio-aerosols and air chemicals. Furthermore, 11 studies examined the association of exposure with asthma and 16 with wheeze. Findings indicate that existing studies have reported contradictory effects of indoor pollutants levels and occurrence of asthma/wheeze. Conclusion: Additional research to establish causality and evaluate interventions to prevent disease onset is needed.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.