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  • Clinical Research Article
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Exposure to air pollution and cardiovascular risk in young children – a pilot project

Pediatric Research volume 96, pages 1718–1723 (2024)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective

To examine relationships between traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) and markers of pre-clinical cardiovascular risk in young children.

Study design

We studied a cohort of healthy children ages 2–5 recruited from pediatric primary care sites (n = 122). We obtained child weight, height, blood pressure and hair nicotine levels. A blood sample was obtained for biomarkers of systemic inflammation, oxidation, and prevalence of circulating endothelial progenitor cells. This manuscript represents a secondary analysis. TRAP exposure (particulate levels, nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and proximity to major roadways) was assessed using national air pollution data based on child’s census tract of residence.

Results

TRAP exposure had significant positive associations with prevalence of two of the three EPC subtypes (CD34 + /CD133 + /CD45− and CD133 + /CD45−) in unadjusted correlations. In a linear regression model, adjusting for sex, age, race, ethnicity, body mass index, parental education, child insurance, and secondhand smoke exposure, one EPC subtype (CD133 + /CD45−) had a positive significant correlation to every TRAP measure. No significant relationships between air pollution and measures of inflammation and oxidation was found.

Conclusion

Our findings of the upregulation of EPCs may signal a response to early vascular damage during early childhood due to air pollution exposure.

Impact

  • Traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) - known cardiovascular risk factor during adulthood

  • Current pilot study in very young children shows upregulation of cells which protect the endothelial lining of blood vessels (endothelial progenitor cells, EPCs)

  • Upregulation of EPCs aligns with other cardiovascular risks during childhood (obesity, prematurity, type 1 diabetes)

  • Demonstrated with TRAP exposure lower than EPA threshold

  • Response to air pollution may be protective of cardiovascular damage during early childhood

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Fig. 1: Example of geocoding for PM10 by census tract in Columbus, Ohio.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on request.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge Tiasha Letostak PhD for her help making the collaboration which led to this work possible. This work was supported in part by the American Academy of Pediatrics Julius B. Richmond Center of Excellence, (Groner & Bauer, Co-PIs), which is funded by grants from the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute and Legacy. Other support also included the US National Institutes of Health (R21ES016883) and the University of Kentucky Center for Appalachian Research in Environmental Sciences (P30ES026529) and the Regina Drury Pediatric Research Endowment Fund (Bauer). The support for the secondary analysis was from the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Primary Care Affinity Group. The findings and conclusions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of any of these institutions. The sponsors had no role in study design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation, writing this report or the decision to submit this report for publication.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. AAP Julius B. Richmond Center of Excellence, Itasca, IL, USA

    Judith A. Groner & John Anthony Bauer

  2. Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA

    Judith A. Groner

  3. Statistical Consulting, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA

    Lisa Nicholson

  4. Kentucky Children’s Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, KY, USA

    John Anthony Bauer & Hong Huang

  5. University of Kentucky Center for Appalachian Research in Environmental Sciences, Lexington, USA

    John Anthony Bauer & Hong Huang

  6. Department of Geography, The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA

    Megan Lindstrom

  7. Department of Geography and Division of Epidemiology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Elisabeth Root

Authors
  1. Judith A. Groner
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  2. Lisa Nicholson
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  4. Hong Huang
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  6. Elisabeth Root
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Contributions

The authors have met the Pediatric Research authorship requirements. Substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data: Groner, Nicholson, Bauer, Huang, Lindstrom, Root. Drafting the article or revisit it critically for important intellectual content: Groner, Nicholson, Bauer, Lindstrom. Final approval of the version to be published: Groner, Nicholson, Bauer, Huang, Lindstrom, Root.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Judith A. Groner.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval

The Nationwide Children’s Hospital (NCH) IRB approved of the original study (IRB11-00437). The secondary analysis was deemed to be IRB exempt by the NCH IRB.

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Groner, J.A., Nicholson, L., Bauer, J.A. et al. Exposure to air pollution and cardiovascular risk in young children – a pilot project. Pediatr Res 96, 1718–1723 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-024-03377-z

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