Climate Change and Air Pollution: Effects on Respiratory Allergy

A body of evidence suggests that major changes involving the atmosphere and the climate change , including global warming induced by anthropogenic factors. have impact on the biosphere and human environment.

Studies on the effects of climate change on respiratory allergy are still lacking and current knowledge is provided by epidemiological and experimental studies on the relationship between allergic respiratory diseases, asthma and environmental factors, such as meteorological variables, airborne allergens, and air pollution. Urbanization with its high levels of vehicle emissions. And a westernized lifestyle are linked to the rising frequency of respiratory allergic diseases and branchial asthma observed over recent decades in most industrialized countries. However, it is not easy to evaluate the impact of climate changes and air pollution on the prevalence of asthma in the general population and on the timing of asthma exacerbations, although the global rise in asthma prevalence and severity could also be an effect of airpollution and climate change.

Since airborne allergens and air pollutants are frequently increased contemporaneously in the atmosphere, an enhanced IgE-mediated response to aeroallergens and enhanced airway inflammation could account for the increasing frequency of respiratory allergyand asthma in atopic subjects in the last 5 decades. Pollen allergy is frequently used to study the relationship between air pollution and respiratory allergic diseases, such as rhinitis and bronchial asthma. Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that urbanization, high levels of vehicle emissions, and westernized lifestyle are correlated with an increased frequency of respiratory allergy prevalently in people who live in urban areas in comparison with people living in rural areas. Climatic factors (temperature, wind speed, humidity, thunderstorms, and etc. ) can affect both components (biological and chemical) of this interaction.
Key Words: Air pollution; asthma; climate change; airway hypersensitivity, pollen allergy; weather.

Gennaro D’Amato,1,2* Ruby Pawankar,3 Carolina Vitale,4 Maurizia Lanza,4 Antonio Molino,4 Anna Stanziola4, Alessandro Sanduzzi,2,5 Alessandro Vatrella,6 Maria D’Amato4
1Division of Respiratory and Allergie Diseases Department of Chest Diseases High Speciality, A. Cardarelli Hospital, Napoli, Italy
2University Federico II, Medical School, Naples, Italy
3Division of Allergy, Department of Pediatrics Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan
4First Division of Pneumology, High Speciality Hospital “V. Monaldi” and University Federico II Medical School Naples, Italy
2Second Division of Pneumotogy, High Speciality Hospital “V. Monaldi” and University Federico II Medical School Naples, Italy
6Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy