Background

Children are at high risk of suffering health consequences of air pollution and childhood exposure can increase the risk of developing chronic diseases in adulthood. This study, part of the MAPEC_LIFE project (LIFE12 ENV/IT/000614), aimed to investigate the associations between exposure to urban air pollutants and micronucleus (MN) frequency, as a biomarker of chromosomal damage, in buccal cells of children for supporting implementation and updating of environmental policy and legislation.

Methods

This prospective epidemiological cohort study was carried out on 6- to 8-year-old children living in five Italian towns with different levels and features of air pollution. Exfoliated buccal cells of the children were sampled twice, in winter and spring, obtaining 2139 biological samples for genotoxicological investigation. Micronucleus (MN) frequency was investigated in buccal cells of children and its association with air pollution exposure was assessed applying multiple Poisson regression mixed models, including socio-demographic and lifestyle factors as confounders. We also dichotomize air pollutants’ concentration according to the EU Ambient Air Quality Directives and WHO Air Quality Guidelines in all Poisson regression models to assess their risk predictive capacity.

Results

Positive and statistically significant associations were found between MN frequency and PM10, PM2.5, benzene, SO₂ and ozone. The increment of the risk of having MN in buccal cells for each μg/m³ increase of pollutant concentration was maximum for benzene (18.9%, 95% CIs 2.2–38.4%) and modest for the other pollutants (between 0.2 and 1.4%). An increased risk (between 17.9% and 59.8%) was found also for exposure to PM10, benzene and benzo(a)pyrene levels higher than the threshold limits.

Conclusions

Some air pollutants are able to induce chromosomal damage in buccal cells of children even at concentrations below present EU/WHO limits. This type of biological effects may be indicative of the environmental pressure which populations are exposed to in urban areas.

中文翻译：

---

欧盟MAPEC_LIFE队列研究对儿童的空气污染和染色体损伤的结果：公共卫生政策是否具有足够的保护性？

背景

儿童极易遭受空气污染对健康造成的后果，而儿童期暴露会增加成年后患慢性疾病的风险。这项研究是MAPEC_LIFE项目（LIFE12 ENV / IT / 000614）的一部分，旨在研究儿童口腔细胞中城市空气污染物暴露与作为染色体损伤生物标志物的微核（MN）频率之间的关系，以支持实施以及更新环境政策和法规。

方法

这项前瞻性流行病学队列研究是针对生活在五个意大利城镇，空气污染水平和特征不同的6至8岁儿童进行的。在冬季和春季，对儿童脱落的颊细胞进行了两次采样，获得了2139份生物学样本用于遗传毒理学研究。在儿童的颊细胞中研究了微核（MN）频率，并使用多个Poisson回归混合模型（包括社会人口统计学和生活方式因素作为混杂因素）评估了其与空气污染暴露的关系。我们还根据所有Poisson回归模型中的EU环境空气质量指令和WHO空气质量指南，将空气污染物的浓度二等分，以评估其风险预测能力。

结果

MN频率与PM10，PM2.5，苯，SO ₂和臭氧之间存在正相关和统计显着性关联。污染物浓度每增加1μg/ m ³，颊细胞中发生MN的风险增加最大（苯为18.9％，95％CI为2.2–38.4％），其他污染物则为中等（0.2至1.4％） 。还发现暴露于PM10，苯和苯并（a）re水平高于阈值限值的风险增加（在17.9％和59.8％之间）。

结论

即使在低于当前EU / WHO限值的浓度下，某些空气污染物也能够在儿童的颊细胞中引起染色体损伤。这种类型的生物效应可能表明城市人口受到的环境压力。