Environ Health Toxicol.
2018 Mar;33(1):e2018004. 10.5620/eht.e2018004.
Health effects of environmental pollution in population living near industrial complex areas in Korea
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea.
- 2Department of Preventive Medicine, Dankook University College of Medicine, Cheonan-si, Korea. hojang@dankook.ac.kr
- 3Environmental Health Research Division, Environmental Health Research Department, National Institute of Environmental Research, Incheon, Korea.
- 4Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, Korea.
- 5Department of Preventive Medicine, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Gyeongju, Korea.
- 6Department of Environmental Health Science, Soonchunhyang University, Asan, Korea.
- 7Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
- KMID: 2434029
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.5620/eht.e2018004
Abstract
- Several epidemiological studies have reported an association between environmental pollution and various health conditions in individuals residing in industrial complexes. To evaluate the effects of pollution from industrial complex on human health, we performed a pooled analysis of environmental epidemiologic monitoring data for residents living near national industrial complexes in Korea. The respiratory and allergic symptoms and the prevalence of acute and chronic diseases, including cancer, were used as the outcome variables for health effects. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between exposure to pollution from industrial complexes and health conditions. After adjusting for age, sex, smoking status, occupational exposure, level of education, and body mass index, the residents near the industrial complexes were found to have more respiratory symptoms, such as cough (odds ratio [OR], 1.18; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06 to 1.31) and sputum production (OR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.03 to 1.24), and symptoms of atopic dermatitis (OR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.20). Among residents of the industrial complexes, the prevalence of acute eye disorders was approximately 40% higher (OR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.84) and the prevalence of lung and uterine cancer was 3.45 times and 1.88 times higher, respectively, than those among residents of the control area. This study showed that residents living in the vicinity of industrial complexes have a high risk of acute and chronic diseases including respiratory and allergic conditions. These results can be used as basic objective data for developing health management measures for individuals residing near industrial complexes.
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