Abstract:
Reported herewith are the results from a study of lung function of kindergarten children
living near a petrochemical industrial area. Air pollution has been associated with
respiratory symptoms although there is a lack of such studies in Malaysia. Petrochemical
industrial area is reported as the major air pollution sources with the pollutants from the
plant considered as environmental carcinogens. The objective of this study was to
determine the lung function of kindergarten children living near the petrochemical
industrial area (study area) compared to children living farther away from the plant
(reference area). 66 kindergarten children from three kindergartens in petrochemical
industrial area and 65 kindergarten children from three kindergartens in reference area
have been chosen as the study subjects.
