Factors Affecting Indoor Air Particulate Matter and Inflammatory Biomarkers among Rural Asthmatic Children

Objectives: Asthma is a chronic chest disease caused by a combination of environmental and genetic factors.Several variables contribute to the development of asthma as it is a polygenic, complex condition.This study aims to correlate the factors that affect indoor particulate matter (PM) and inflammatory biomarkers in rural asthmatic children.Materials and methods: It is a cross-sectional survey-based study, in which a total of 69 asthmatic children were enrolled from a rural village of Delhi-NCR named Dujana.General information and respiratory symptoms of children were collected by a standard questionnaire.Portable spirometry was used for pulmonary function tests, and indoor air pollutants (PM 10 , PM 2.5 , and PM 1 ) were estimated by using a GRIMM aerosol spectrometer.For inflammatory analysis, serum biomarkers were analyzed by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) kit method.Results: A total of 69 asthmatic children (39 males and 30 females) with an average age of 8.51 3.21years were enrolled.Out of 69 patients, 16 (44.44%)children had airway obstruction (38.89% mild and 5.56% moderate).The indoor factors, especially cooking fuel, i.e., cow dung cakes, wood, and agricultural crop waste, significantly increased the level of indoor PM (p < 0.05) as compared to LPG user households.Burning of wood and agricultural crop waste with cow dung cakes, significantly associated with PM and serum inflammatory biomarkers. Conclusion:The present study concludes that due to various factors of indoor air pollution, i.e., biomass fuel (BMF), tobacco smoking, and kerosene oil, significantly affect the indoor PM and serum inflammatory biomarkers, which may be responsible for asthma in children.