FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 2004
CONTACT: Jim Tobin
919-653-2582
Children's Exposure to Air Pollutants
Most Influenced by Air in the Home
Study in Environmental Health Perspectives Finds Less Exposure at School or Outdoors
[RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC] Inner-city Minneapolis children are exposed to
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in greater amounts in the home than outside
or at school, according to a study published today in the October issue of
the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP). (In honor
of Children's Health Month, the October issue of EHP is focused specifically
on children's environmental health.) The study of 153 elementary school children
found that air samples obtained outdoors and in school contained fewer measured
hazardous air pollutants than the air in the children's personal breathing
zone, which in turn contained fewer pollutants than the air in the children's
primary residence.
The study also found variability in the types of exposure between racial/ethnic
groups in the study. For example, time-diary and biomarker data indicate that
African-American children in the study had higher tobacco exposures than did
other racial/ethnic groups. Somali children, on the other hand, had significantly
lower exposure to compounds associated with vehicle exhaust, consistent with
the fact that these children reported less time spent in transit.
Common sources of indoor pollutants include tobacco smoke, household cleaners,
room deodorizers, toilet bowl blocks, moth cakes, attached garages, and fragrances.
Increased ventilation in the home was associated with reduced concentrations
of some pollutants with indoor sources.
The children in the study were exposed to relatively low levels of air pollutants
outdoors, as compared to children in other U.S. metropolitan areas.
"
The outdoors VOC levels measured in Minneapolis for this study are relatively
low compared with those in other large metropolitan areas in the United States," the
study authors write. "The Twin Cities metropolitan area is downwind of
rural areas in the United States and Canada that have low VOC emissions, have
relatively infrequent atmospheric inversions, and have no physical barriers
that trap pollutants."
The research is consistent with earlier studies that have found that VOCs
are typically higher indoors than outdoors.
"
A lot of people think about 'air pollution' as something they largely can't
control," said Dr. Jim Burkhart, science editor for EHP. "This study,
however, reminds us that actions we take in our own homes can have a major
influence, positive or negative, on the air we breathe."
The lead author of the study was John Adgate of the School of Public Health
at the University of Minnesota. Other authors were Timothy R. Church, Andrew
D. Ryan, Gurumurthy Ramachandran, Ann L. Fredrickson, Thomas H. Stock,
Maria T. Morandi, and Ken Sexton. The article is available free of charge
at http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2004/7107/abstract.html.
EHP is published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences,
part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. EHP became
an Open Access journal in January 2004. More information is available online
at http://www.ehponline.org/.
Editor's note: Working media can register to receive press releases via
e-mail by visiting http://www.ehponline.org/press/, calling 919-653-2582,
or e-mailing ehpmedia@brogan.com.
|