ABSTRACT
Schikowski et al. (2005) reports one of the earliest results of research on the long-term influence of road traffic air pollutants on the progress of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Not much other research of this type has been carried out so far.The tests were performed for 10 years among a group of 4757 women, living in the Ruhr Area (in Germany). They indicate that an increase of average concentration of PM10 (interquartile range) by 7 µg/m3within 5 years caused a noticeable decrease of spirometric indicators. The forced Expiratory Volume during the First Second of Expiration (FEV1) decreased by 5.1% (95% confidence level: 2.5%–7.7%), while the Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) decreased by 3.7% (95% confidence level: 1.8%–5.5%). At the same time the author points out that the women investigated in the test who lived closer than 100 m to busy roads showed significantly lower spirometric parameters, and the risk of COPD incidence was 1.79 times higher (odds ratio with 95% confidence level: 1.06-3.02) compared to the inhabitants of areas located further from main roads.
