Global, national, and urban burdens of paediatric asthma incidence attributable to ambient NO₂ pollution: estimates from global datasets
Globally, the estimates suggest that there are 170 new cases of traffic pollution-related asthma per 100,000 children every year, and 13% of childhood asthma cases diagnosed each year are linked to traffic pollution. The country with the highest proportion of traffic pollution-attributable childhood asthma incidence was South Korea (31%), the UK ranked 24th out of 194 countries, the US 25th, China 19th, and India 58th.
Paediatric asthma incidence is associated with exposure to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP), but the TRAP-attributable burden remains poorly quantified. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a major component and common proxy of TRAP. In this study, we estimated the annual global number of new paediatric asthma cases attributable to NO2 exposure at a resolution sufficient to resolve intra-urban exposure gradients.
