These findings are in line with other studies that report high pollutant levels in bird eggs but with no associated population level effects (e.g., [15, 80]).
Therefore, we found that higher pollutant levels were in tissues of female species, because female species were both longer and heavier than male fishes.
Additionally, we expected that co-inflammatory changes associated with a contemporaneous respiratory infection would increase the adverse effects of higher pollutant levels on measures of lung function.
Furthermore, PM2.5 levels in the Boston area are generally below EPA air quality standards, whereas other areas may have consistently higher pollutant levels which could affect HRV to a greater extent.
Theoretically, the associations could be produced by mothers with high environmental pollutant levels (or lifestyles associated with high levels) having their amniocentesis later, due to, for example, later recognition of pregnancy.
It appears possible that there is subclinical airway inflammation or preexisting airway remodeling that is "unmasked" by exposure to higher air pollutant levels, resulting in greater pollution-related effects on lung function among children on CSs.
In general, the most variable communities for each pollutant were also those with higher absolute pollutant levels (data not shown).
Chronic asthma studies have shown increased prevalence of respiratory symptoms for areas with higher air pollutant levels (Sunyer 2001).
For indoor pollutant research, Satish et al. [ 24] emphasized the need to measure perceived air quality as it is known to be associated with higher indoor pollutant levels, which in turn, associated with impaired work performance and increased health symptoms.
