[Respiratory health of children and atmospheric pollution. I. Respiratory symptoms].

The impact on the respiratory system of complex industrial pollution (dust, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons) was assessed by an analytical epidemiological study in a population of school children in the northeast of France. The parents of 375 children aged from 9-12 (middle school course 1 and 2) from the polluted zone and 523 children of the same age in a neighboring zone which was not polluted have filled in standardised questionnaires (respiratory symptoms, previous infections and allergies, frequency of infection in infancy; tobacco habits, professional and educational attainments of the parents, domestic environment). In the exposed children the majority of respiratory symptoms were more frequent (e.g., respiratory sounds in the boys, 15.6% against 7.9% p less than 0.01) and the absenteeism from school was more numerous (66.9% against 59.1% p less than 0.01). However, the interpretation of the results had to take into account the existence of confusing factors: parental smoking habits and the use of coal fires increased the prevalence of symptoms in the polluted zone, whereas a less crowded population worked in the inverse direction; likewise the educational level of the parents was higher in the polluted zone. After adjusting for these confusing factors, the frequency of rhinitis and absenteeism from school was significantly higher in exposed children.