Asthma and persistent wheeze in the Harvard six cities study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Speizer FE
• Description:
  The Harvard Six Cities Study and results relevant to environmentally related asthma are discussed. The study was initiated in 1974 as a prospective epidemiologic study of the effects of ambient sulfur oxides and particulate matter on the respiratory health of children and adults living in Watertown, Massachusetts; Kingston and Harriman, Tennessee; Steubenville, Ohio; St. Louis, Missouri; Portage, Wisconsin; and Topeka, Kansas. A total of 13,850 school children followed from age 6 to 18, 8,840 adults aged 25 to 74 followed for up to 12 years, and another 6,300 children aged 7 to 11 whose ambient environment has been measured for most of their lives were included in the study. During the 1980/1981 school year, reports of asthma varied from 3.2 to 5.9% in 5,422 white, 10 to 12 year old children. Persistent wheeze was reported in a similar pattern across the cities, with values ranging from 6.6 to 11.6%. In the adults, an increased frequency of persistent wheeze was reported in individuals who reported occupational exposures to dust and fumes. The data suggest that symptoms of persistent wheeze or a history of asthma does identify a subgroup of the population that appears to be at increased risk at levels of ambient exposure at and below the current ambient standards for particulate exposure. The adult data further suggest that cumulative exposure is associated with an increased risk of developing asthma like symptoms. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Age Factors Air Pollutants, Occupational Dust Environmental Exposure Environmental Pollution Epidemiology Lung Occupational Health Particulate Matter Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety

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• Keywords:
  Age-factors Airborne-dusts Dust-exposure Environmental-contamination Environmental-pollution Lung-irritants NIOSH-Publication Respiratory-system-disorders Worker-health
• ISSN:
  0012-3692
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Kansas ; Massachusetts ; Missouri ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 7 ; Tennessee
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  191-195
• Volume:
  98
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00196530
• Citation:
  Chest 1990 Nov; 98(5):191-195
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1991
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Chest
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8615fce648a8f4b010b2b6d64aa81d14eda37022b03557d7dc519942d237e8c3ca59bef95a2dd7d692df2fecc5d65e92806fe3966ab7f958393b27bbdb750d5c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/204210/cdc_204210_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.01 MB ]