The effects of air pollution and renal health in Asian children

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Multi-pollutant air pollution and renal health in Asian children and adolescents: An 18-year longitudinal study, research published in the Environmental research magazine, has led to a retrospective on the topic. The researchers tell us: "Few studies have examined the effects of multi-pollutant air pollution on renal health, especially in children and adolescents.

This study investigated the association between long-term ambient air pollution exposure and renal health in Asian children and adolescents. This study included 10,942 children and adolescents from Taiwan and Hong Kong between 2000 and 2017.

PM2.5, NO2 and O3 concentrations were estimated using satellite-based spatiotemporal regression models. Two-year average concentrations, those of the year of visit and the preceding year, were used. Linear mixed models were used to examine the association between air pollution and yearly changes in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).

Cox regression models with time-dependent covariates were used to examine the association between air pollution and the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Long-term exposure to ambient PM2.5 and NO2 was associated with a slower growth of eGFR and a higher risk of incident CKD in children and adolescents.

Our findings suggest that air pollution control in early life is imperative to improve lifelong renal health and alleviate the CKD burden." The effects on human health due to poor air quality mainly involve the respiratory system and the cardiovascular system.

Individual reactions to air pollutants depend on the type of pollutant a person is exposed to, the degree of exposure, the individual's state of health and genetics. Indoor air pollution and poor urban air quality are listed as two of the world's worst toxic pollution problems in the 2008 report.

Outdoor air pollution causes 2.1 to 4.21 million dead every year. Collectively, air pollution causes the deaths of approximately 7 million people worldwide each year and is the largest single environmental health risk in the world.

Given the great variety of substances present in the atmosphere, numerous classification methods have been proposed: in the first place, it can be classified according to the chemical composition, so we are mainly talking about compounds that contain sulphur, compounds that contain nitrogen, compounds that contain carbon and halogen compounds.

Secondly, it can be classified according to the physical state: gaseous, liquid or solid; finally it can be divided according to the degree of reactivity in the atmosphere, into primary or secondary substances.