Influence of Atmospheric Parameters and Pollutants on Control of Breathing in Healthy Neonates

Introduction

There is increasing emphasis on health effects related to air pollution, particularly in the respiratory system. Many studies demonstrate an association between short-term exposure to various urban air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO), ozone (O), sulfur dioxide (SO), PM (airborne particles with an aerodynamic diameter <10 µm), and respiratory symptoms like cough [1, 2], bronchitis [2–4], wheezing [3–5], and asthma [4–7]. Detrimental effects of air pollution have been found to act on both a short-term and long-term basis. Besides good evidence for acute effects on respiratory symptoms and lung function [8–10], it has been shown that long-term exposure to ambient air pollution increases respiratory symptoms in children [11] and is related to decreased lung function and impaired lung growth in children [8, 12–15]. Urban pollutants are also known to be a cause of preterm birth [16] and infant death such as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), neonatal, and postneonatal death [17–19], especially due to respiratory causes [16, 20]. We previously have shown that long-term exposure to PM during pregnancy is related to an increase in minute ventilation in neonates, suggesting an impact of prenatal air pollution on lung function [21].

Abstract

Keywords

infant, risk factor, pollution, cohort study, control of breathing