Environmental Burden of Childhood Disease in Europe
<i>Background</i>: Environmental factors determine children’s health. Quantifying the health impacts related to environmental hazards for children is essential to prioritize interventions to improve health in Europe. <i>Objective</i>: This study aimed to assess the...
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doaj-d348b51055784f499ea638a9485c1c052020-11-25T00:55:53ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1660-46012019-03-01166108410.3390/ijerph16061084ijerph16061084Environmental Burden of Childhood Disease in EuropeDavid Rojas-Rueda0Martine Vrijheid1Oliver Robinson2Aasvang Gunn Marit3Regina Gražulevičienė4Remy Slama5Mark Nieuwenhuijsen6Barcelona Institute of Global Health (ISGlobal), 08003 Barcelona, SpainBarcelona Institute of Global Health (ISGlobal), 08003 Barcelona, SpainMRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UKDepartment of Air Pollution and Noise, Division for Infection Control and Environmental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, N-0213 Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Vytauto Didžiojo Universitetas, 44248 Kaunas, LithuaniaDepartment of Prevention and Therapy of Chronic Diseases, Institute of Advanced Biosciences (IAB), Inserm—CNRS—University Grenoble—Alpes, 38700 Grenoble, FranceBarcelona Institute of Global Health (ISGlobal), 08003 Barcelona, Spain<i>Background</i>: Environmental factors determine children’s health. Quantifying the health impacts related to environmental hazards for children is essential to prioritize interventions to improve health in Europe. <i>Objective</i>: This study aimed to assess the burden of childhood disease due to environmental risks across the European Union. <i>Methods</i>: We conducted an environmental burden of childhood disease assessment in the 28 countries of the EU (EU28) for seven environmental risk factors (particulate matter less than 10 micrometer of diameter (PM<sub>10</sub>) and less than 2.5 micrometer of diameter (PM<sub>2.5</sub>), ozone, secondhand smoke, dampness, lead, and formaldehyde). The primary outcome was disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), assessed from exposure data provided by the World Health Organization, Global Burden of Disease project, scientific literature, and epidemiological risk estimates. <i>Results</i>: The seven studied environmental risk factors for children in the EU28 were responsible for around 211,000 DALYs annually. Particulate matter (PM<sub>10</sub> and PM<sub>2.5</sub>) was the main environmental risk factor, producing 59% of total DALYs (125,000 DALYs), followed by secondhand smoke with 20% of all DALYs (42,500 DALYs), ozone 11% (24,000 DALYs), dampness 6% (13,000 DALYs), lead 3% (6200 DALYs), and formaldehyde 0.2% (423 DALYs). <i>Conclusions</i>: Environmental exposures included in this study were estimated to produce 211,000 DALYs each year in children in the EU28, representing 2.6% of all DALYs in children. Among the included environmental risk factors, air pollution (particulate matter and ozone) was estimated to produce the highest burden of disease in children in Europe, half of which was due to the effects of PM<sub>10</sub> on infant mortality. Effective policies to reduce environmental pollutants across Europe are needed.https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/6/1084environmental healthburden of diseasedisability-adjusted life yearschildhoodEurope |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
David Rojas-Rueda Martine Vrijheid Oliver Robinson Aasvang Gunn Marit Regina Gražulevičienė Remy Slama Mark Nieuwenhuijsen |
spellingShingle |
David Rojas-Rueda Martine Vrijheid Oliver Robinson Aasvang Gunn Marit Regina Gražulevičienė Remy Slama Mark Nieuwenhuijsen Environmental Burden of Childhood Disease in Europe International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health environmental health burden of disease disability-adjusted life years childhood Europe |
author_facet |
David Rojas-Rueda Martine Vrijheid Oliver Robinson Aasvang Gunn Marit Regina Gražulevičienė Remy Slama Mark Nieuwenhuijsen |
author_sort |
David Rojas-Rueda |
title |
Environmental Burden of Childhood Disease in Europe |
title_short |
Environmental Burden of Childhood Disease in Europe |
title_full |
Environmental Burden of Childhood Disease in Europe |
title_fullStr |
Environmental Burden of Childhood Disease in Europe |
title_full_unstemmed |
Environmental Burden of Childhood Disease in Europe |
title_sort |
environmental burden of childhood disease in europe |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
issn |
1660-4601 |
publishDate |
2019-03-01 |
description |
<i>Background</i>: Environmental factors determine children’s health. Quantifying the health impacts related to environmental hazards for children is essential to prioritize interventions to improve health in Europe. <i>Objective</i>: This study aimed to assess the burden of childhood disease due to environmental risks across the European Union. <i>Methods</i>: We conducted an environmental burden of childhood disease assessment in the 28 countries of the EU (EU28) for seven environmental risk factors (particulate matter less than 10 micrometer of diameter (PM<sub>10</sub>) and less than 2.5 micrometer of diameter (PM<sub>2.5</sub>), ozone, secondhand smoke, dampness, lead, and formaldehyde). The primary outcome was disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), assessed from exposure data provided by the World Health Organization, Global Burden of Disease project, scientific literature, and epidemiological risk estimates. <i>Results</i>: The seven studied environmental risk factors for children in the EU28 were responsible for around 211,000 DALYs annually. Particulate matter (PM<sub>10</sub> and PM<sub>2.5</sub>) was the main environmental risk factor, producing 59% of total DALYs (125,000 DALYs), followed by secondhand smoke with 20% of all DALYs (42,500 DALYs), ozone 11% (24,000 DALYs), dampness 6% (13,000 DALYs), lead 3% (6200 DALYs), and formaldehyde 0.2% (423 DALYs). <i>Conclusions</i>: Environmental exposures included in this study were estimated to produce 211,000 DALYs each year in children in the EU28, representing 2.6% of all DALYs in children. Among the included environmental risk factors, air pollution (particulate matter and ozone) was estimated to produce the highest burden of disease in children in Europe, half of which was due to the effects of PM<sub>10</sub> on infant mortality. Effective policies to reduce environmental pollutants across Europe are needed. |
topic |
environmental health burden of disease disability-adjusted life years childhood Europe |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/6/1084 |
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