Personal Exposure to Black Carbon and Nitrogen Dioxide and Childhood Asthma Exacerbation in Seaport-Adjacent Communities

Introduction. Ambient and traffic-related air pollution has been linked to exacerbation of asthma in adults and children. Our community-academic partnership is evaluating the effects of diesel emissions and chronic psychosocial stress on asthma exacerbation among children in communities adjacent to the Newark-Elizabeth Seaport in New Jersey, USA. Methods. In a panel study, children with physician-diagnosed asthma, aged 9-14 years old, wear Ogawa passive samplers for NO2, and AE-51 microaethalometers (Aethlabs) to measure black carbon (BC) as a marker for exposure to diesel particulate matter for up to 30 consecutive days. Daily measurements include exhaled nitric oxide (eNO), spirometry, symptoms, medication use, and time-activity logs. We measure stress with the UCLA Chronic and Episodic Stress Interview for Children, diurnal variability in salivary cortisol, and response to an experimental acute stressor. Artifact in the BC data was cleaned using the method of Cai et al. (2013). We analyzed associations...