Exploring the Latest Research on Nitrogen Dioxide and Asthma

My journey to discovering the severity and danger of Nitrogen Dioxide on health all started when I learned about Particulate Matter, in which NO2 plays a key role in. PM is known to affect the health of susceptible individuals that have respiratory issues such as Asthma.

As I learned about how small these particles are that enter our lungs, it got me thinking about my own diagnosis with asthma. I grew up in Detroit, a town flooded with factories, cars and high levels of air pollution. Looking deeper into research, I found multiple studies in which kids that were exposed to high levels of nitrogen dioxide, as a result of traffic-related NO2 and gas stove emissions, had an increased risk of illnesses such as asthma.

Asthma is a type of airway disease that causes inflammation and obstruction in the Airways. This inflammation causes an increase in mucus production, as well as the contraction of muscles around the airways, making them narrow and smaller. This is what causes airway hyper reactivity to occur due to the inflammation. It's important to note that since there is a narrowed airway that results in limited airflow, this increases mucus that blocks airways. This disease can cause symptoms that include but are not limited to: tightness of the chest, shortness of breath, continuous fatigue, wheezing and coughing, etc, [8]. NO2 exposure from traffic emissions, factories, air pollution, gas stoves, etc., can trigger signs of asthma.

The American Public Health Association [5] has put out a PDF that elaborates on the dangers of having gas stoves without ventilation in homes can cause severe respiratory symptoms in people with asthma as well as expose children to increased risk of asthma being that they spend many of their hours indoors. They explained that  that groups in which are more susceptible and in danger of being affected by NO2 include children older adults people living in smaller older less ventilated areas homes places of poverty are those that are in higher risk of the effects of indoor air pollutants meaning the illness rates of lower income populations and people of color is heightened.

The APHA emphasizes that there should be more attention to these situations and that more safeguards should be in place to protect the public from the emissions that gas stoves release especially in these communities where they're susceptible and exposed to these emissions. One study in 2020 showed that about a third of Americans use gas stoves, while another study in Baltimore revealed that over 83% of homes where low income populations reside included gas stoves [5].

With all this in mind, it is critical to continue research on a wider scale, being that many studies could fall short, due to small sampling sizes and limited funds for a research project. In one study completed in Olmsted County, Minnesota, researchers measured NO2 concentrations, both indoor and outdoor [6]. This study included 62 families living in a mixed urban-rural community, spanning a total of 4 weeks, 2 in the summer and 2 in the winter. They found that the levels of NO2 were lower than the standards set by the EPA, but did discover that indoor NO2 was significantly higher. However, they stated that asthma was not linked to the levels of nitrogen dioxide in this study, and that future studies that include a bigger sample size would prove beneficial for coming to a better consensus of how NO2 and asthma are linked in rural-urban areas. Read more about this study below.

Asthma Study