[Atmospheric pollution and chronic respiratory diseases]

A national cooperative study was conducted from 1974 to 1976 in twenty-four areas located in six French cities, in order to investigate the relationships of air pollution to ventilatory function and the prevalence of respiratory symptoms. The concentrations of the following pollutants were daily measured: SO2, suspended particulates, NOx. The population included men and women, non manual workers, aged 25 to 59, and children, aged 6 to 10. The respiratory symptoms and other characteristics of the subjects were recorded and their ventilatory function was measured with a dry expirograph. The main results were as following: a) in adults of both sexes, the pollution in SO2 was associated with the prevalence of lower respiratory symptoms. b) in children, it was associated with the prevalence of upper respiratory symptoms. c) in both adults and children, the higher the SO2 concentration, the lower the FEV1. d) no other pollutant was related to respiratory diseases.