Biological mechanisms behind health effects of air pollution exposure from childhood to adulthood

Air pollution is recognized as a serious public health issue worldwide and increasingly associated with adverse health outcomes.

Several studies, including ours, have shown that air pollution exposure during infancy influences the risk of asthma, allergies, as well as lung function impairment in children up to adolescence. The biological mechanisms behind these health effects remain unclear.

We will thoroughly investigate underlying biological mechanisms using advanced –omics data, with a focus on proteomics and metabolomics.

This project will be based on several epidemiologic materials, including the BAMSE birth cohort of 4,000 subjects followed until 24-years of age, as well as BiL, ALADDIN, and EMIL studies with repeated biosampling during early childhood.

In all studies, individual exposure to air pollution from traffic and other relevant sources is estimated via dispersion modelling.

Occupational exposure of mothers during pregnancy, as well as of study subjects themselves (BAMSE) is estimated via job-exposure matrix.

Our project offers an opportunity to improve our limited understanding of molecular mechanisms of how exposure to air pollution during different age periods may lead to long-term health consequences, and to identify susceptible groups.

It is expected that this project will generate important new scientific information that will strengthen the basis for preventive actions and have significant implications for environmental health risk assessments.