Traffic-related air pollution and pediatric asthma in Durham County, North Carolina
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Hilary Henry
Abstract
Past studies have shown that traffic-related air pollution may increase pediatric asthma prevalence. We analyzed the relationship between distance of a child’s home to roadways and asthma prevalence in Durham County, North Carolina (NC). Data for children aged 5–12 years and with permanent addresses in Durham County were taken from the Decision Support Repository, an electronic warehouse of all patient records in the Duke University Hospital System. Records were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. Controlling for child race, age, sex, and household median income at the block group level, children who lived <75 m away from a local road were 20% less likely to be diagnosed with asthma. Our model did not show a relationship between the distance of a home to roadways and pediatric asthma prevalence for homes located at farther distances from local roads, or at any distance from NC State highways, US highways, or interstates. Our results indicate that traffic-related air pollution is not a major determinant for pediatric asthma prevalence in Durham County. As a generally low pollution area, the effects of traffic-related pollution may be less pronounced in Durham than in higher pollution areas. However, limitations in our modeling methods may have hindered our ability to detect a relationship. As the best strategy for decreasing the effects of traffic-related air pollution is to reduce other risk factors, Durham County can now take steps to break the cycle of disadvantage and disability of pediatric asthma, no matter the effect of traffic-related air pollution.
We would like to express our gratitude to the Break the Cycle Initiative, the Southeast Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit at Emory University, and the Institute for the Study of Disadvantage and Disability for sponsoring this research, as well as providing support and guidance throughout the process. We would also like to thank the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for funding the project through Award RD-83329201-0. Ben Strauss at the Children’s Environmental Health Initiative was instrumental to our GIS analysis.
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©2013 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Masthead
- Editorial
- Break the cycle of environmental health disparities in vulnerable children
- Reviews
- Effectiveness of foreign food aid initiatives at addressing child malnutrition and the future of United States food aid policy
- Interventions to improve access to fresh food in vulnerable communities: a review of the literature
- Original Articles
- Disparities in arsenic exposure among children and adolescents in the United States
- The use of home-based caregiver assessment to improve children’s health: a pilot project
- There’s a hole in the bucket: rethinking the role of community collected data in environmental justice movements
- Multilevel analysis of small area violent crime and preterm birth in a racially diverse urban area
- Cyclopedia: sustaining a positive youth development program through community partnership
- Traffic-related air pollution and pediatric asthma in Durham County, North Carolina
- Breaking the cycle through better school siting: a collaborative project to facilitate the effective use of EPA’s guidelines with Georgia’s educational leaders
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Masthead
- Editorial
- Break the cycle of environmental health disparities in vulnerable children
- Reviews
- Effectiveness of foreign food aid initiatives at addressing child malnutrition and the future of United States food aid policy
- Interventions to improve access to fresh food in vulnerable communities: a review of the literature
- Original Articles
- Disparities in arsenic exposure among children and adolescents in the United States
- The use of home-based caregiver assessment to improve children’s health: a pilot project
- There’s a hole in the bucket: rethinking the role of community collected data in environmental justice movements
- Multilevel analysis of small area violent crime and preterm birth in a racially diverse urban area
- Cyclopedia: sustaining a positive youth development program through community partnership
- Traffic-related air pollution and pediatric asthma in Durham County, North Carolina
- Breaking the cycle through better school siting: a collaborative project to facilitate the effective use of EPA’s guidelines with Georgia’s educational leaders
