Respiratory symptoms in primary schoolchildren living near a freeway in Taiwan

Chun Yuh Yang, Sheng Tsung Yu, Chih Ching Chang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted in an effort to investigate the effects of automobile exhaust on respiratory symptoms of school children in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. One school (Yang-Ming primary school) was located in the vicinity of 150 m from the highway and designated as a heavy-traffic area. The control school (Zhuang-Jing primary school) was situated in the same district but the distance of the school address to the freeway was 1500 m and designated as a low-traffic area. All of the primary school children in those schools were used in the study. In total, 3221 children were from the heavy-traffic school and 2969 from the low-traffic area. The respiratory health was assessed by an evaluation of the child's respiratory symptoms and illnesses using a parent-completed questionnaire. Data on traffic flow on the freeway were obtained from the Department of Transportation. Road traffic flows in front of the study schools were also measured with a portable counter. This study showed that a freeway surrounding a child's school may not be associated with an increased risk of respiratory symptoms. This may be due to insufficiently large contrasts in traffic pollution levels between these areas.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)747-755
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Toxicology and Environmental Health - Part A
Volume65
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2002 May 24

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Toxicology
  • Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

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