A new study brings fresh revelations about the connection between early-life exposure to air pollution and lung health later in life. A research team led by the Keck School of Medicine of USC has shown that exposure to air pollution during childhood is directly associated with bronchitis symptoms as an adult. To date, many investigations in the field have established intuitive links that are less direct than that: Air pollution exposure while young is consistently associated with lung problems during childhood -; and childhood lung problems are consistently associated with lung issues as an adult.
The current study, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Clinical Care Medicine , is one of only a few to show the direct connection between childhood air pollution exposure and adult lung health, a connection not fully explained by air pollution impacts on lung health during childhood. It opens the possibility of yet-to-be-understood factors explaining the path from early air pollution exposure to respiratory maladies many years later. The team drew upon the USC Children's Health Study, a large-scale, decades-long study following cohorts of Southern Californians starting at school-age and, for many participants, continuing into adulthood.
Importantly, the link between childhood air pollution exposure and adult bronchitis symptoms persisted even when the researchers adjusted for asthma or bronchitis symptoms early in life -; a finding that came as a surprise. "We woul.
