LC-MS/MS Links Air Pollutants to Child Health

Breathing polluted air has been linked to serious health problems, including asthma, lung cancer, and heart disease. Children are particularly at risk because their bodies and immune systems are still developing, and they breathe in more air relative to their body size than adults do. While it is well established that air pollution is harmful to health, scientists still do not fully understand which specific pollutants are most responsible or exactly how they cause damage inside the body. To help answer these questions, a team of California researchers conducted a pilot study looking at biological signs of bodily stress and inflammation in children living in Stockton, California, and how these signs relate to air pollution exposure as measured through urine samples, with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) used to measure urinary metabolites of six volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and four polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). A paper based on their work was published in Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis.¹

Why Are Children Especially at Risk from Air Pollution?

Beyond directly damaging the lungs and other organs, air pollutants such as toxic metals, chemicals, fine particles, and gases can also trigger inflammation throughout the body, leading to a condition known as oxidative stress, where the body struggles to repair damage at the cellular level. This problem can be made worse by everyday lifestyle factors such as an unhealthy diet, smoking, drinking alcohol, and living under chronic stress.² Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of air pollution because their immune systems and organs are still developing, and they breathe in more air relative to their body size than adults do.^3,4 Previous research has shown that exposure to air pollution in children has been linked to a range of health problems, including premature birth, wheezing, asthma, bronchitis, reduced lung function, a weakened immune system, and increased cellular damage.^5-9

What Did the Study Find About Air Pollution's Effect on Children's Health?

Eighteen children from an elementary school in Stockton, California took part in the study, providing a total of 67 urine samples. The samples were tested for biological signs of bodily stress and inflammation using standard laboratory methods. The analysis revealed that higher levels of certain harmful chemicals in the urine, linked to exposure to pollutants such as acrylonitrile, acrolein, crotonaldehyde, naphthalene, and fluorene, were associated with higher levels of these stress and inflammation markers. When levels of crotonaldehyde and naphthalene byproducts doubled, stress and inflammation markers rose by roughly 11% to 21%. A doubling of crotonaldehyde byproducts was also linked to a 41% change in a protein associated with lung health.¹

“These results,” write the authors of the paper,¹ “suggest that urinary biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation may serve as useful tools for assessing chemical exposures and early biological effects in children.”

The researchers believe that the results of their study add to a small but growing body of research linking certain biological markers in the body to air pollution exposure. To their knowledge, theirs is the first study to show such a connection in children from a California community. It is worth noting that these biological markers can be influenced by many things beyond air pollution alone, including diet, personal care products, stress, illness, and other life circumstances. While they did not have data on all these factors, they point out the significance that they still found a clear link to air pollution in a community that likely faces a range of other environmental and social challenges as well. Because they study involved a relatively small group of children who may not be representative of the broader population, they state that their findings will need to be confirmed through larger studies.¹

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References

1. Guo, W.; Castorina, R.; Hurley, S. et al. Urinary Biomarkers of Exposure and Effect in California Schoolchildren from a High Air Pollution Area. Environ Mol Mutagen. 2026, 67 (5-7), e70061. DOI: 10.1002/em.70061
2. Al-Gubory, K. H. Environmental Pollutants and Lifestyle Factors Induce Oxidative Stress and Poor Prenatal Development. Reprod Biomed Online 2014, 29 (1), 17-31. DOI: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2014.03.002
3. Heinrich, J.; Slama, R. Fine Particles, a Major Threat to Children. Int J Hyg Environ Health 2007, 210 (5), 617-622. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2007.07.012
4. Schraufnagel, D. E.; Balmes, J. R.; Cowl, C. T. et al. Air Pollution and Noncommunicable Diseases: A Review by the Forum of International Respiratory Societies' Environmental Committee, Part 1: The Damaging Effects of Air Pollution. Chest 2019, 155 (2), 409-416. DOI: 10.1016/j.chest.2018.10.042
5. Gale, S. L.; Noth, E. M.; Mann, J. et al. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Exposure and Wheeze in a Cohort of Children with Asthma in Fresno, CA. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2012, 22 (4), 386-392. DOI: 10.1038/jes.2012.29
6. Padula, A. M.; Noth, E. M.; Hammond, S. K. et al. Exposure to Airborne Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons During Pregnancy and Risk of Preterm Birth. Environ Res. 2014, 135, 221-226. DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2014.09.014
7. Hew, K. M.; Walker, A. I.; Kohli, A. et al. Childhood Exposure to Ambient Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Is Linked to Epigenetic Modifications and Impaired Systemic Immunity in T Cells. Clin Exp Allergy 2015, 45 (1), 238-248. DOI: 10.1111/cea.12377
8. Mann, J. K.; Lutzker, L.; Holm, S. M. et al. Traffic-Related Air Pollution is Associated with Glucose Dysregulation, Blood Pressure, and Oxidative Stress in Children. Environ Res. 2021, 195, 110870. DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.110870
9. Children's Health Study. University of Southern California website 2026. https://healthstudy.usc.edu/study-findings/