Los contaminantes atmosfericos urbanos son factores de riesgo significativos para el asma y la neumonia en ninos: influencia del lugar de medicion de los contaminantes

Background: Air pollution is associated with a substantial burden on human health; however, the most important pollutants may vary with location. Proper monitoring is necessary to determine the effect of these pollutants on respiratory health. Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the role of outdoor, indoor and personal exposure to combustion-related pollutants NO and O on respiratory health of children in a non-affluent urban area of São Paulo, Brazil. Methods: Levels of NO and O were continuously measured in outdoor and indoor air, as well as personal exposure, for 30 days using passive measurement monitors. Respiratory health was assessed with a Brazilian version of the ISAAC questionnaire. Results: Complete data were available from 64 children, aged 6-10 years. Respiratory morbidity was high, with 43 (67.2%) reporting having had wheezing at any time, 27 (42.2%) wheezing in the last month, 17 (26.6%) asthma at any time and 21 (32.8%) pneumonia at any time. Correlations between levels of NO and O measured in the three locations evaluated were poor. Levels of NO in indoor air and personal exposure to O were independently associated with asthma (both cases P=02), pneumonia (O, P=02) and wheezing at any time (both cases