AIR POLLUTION AND URBAN EYE ALLERGY SYNDROME

Pollution & Conjunctivitis

Air pollution irritates the eye. Although this makes intuitive sense, few studies have been published on the topic. Now a team of researchers reports that pollutants increased demand in Taiwan for outpatient care for nonspecific conjunctivitis.¹

The team, which includes an ophthalmologist, a biochemist, and an environmental engineer, measured the impact of air pollution on ocular health by coupling national health insurance data for outpatient visits between 2007 and 2009 with daily ambient air quality data tracked by the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration. 

Unlike other conditions affected by air pollution—asthma, for example—the effect on the eye from exposure to pollutants is immediate. 

The researchers found that ozone (O₃) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) produced the strongest effects. Large-diameter particulate matter (PM) had an adverse effect, although fine PM did not. 

The authors report that conjunctivitis accountsfor more than 40 percent of ophthalmologic outpatient visits annually in Taiwan.

The study’s conclusion did not surprise Susan M. MacDonald, MD, who noted that the term “urban eye allergy syndrome” is already part of the medical lexicon. “Poor air quality can exacerbate allergic conjunctivitis and dry eye,” said the director of comprehensive ophthalmology, Lahey Clinic Medical Center in Burlington, Mass.

But Dr. MacDonald said that it is easy to overlook air quality when evaluating patients. She called the study “a good reminder that air quality does affect our patients’ eyes and should be considered when we are evaluating patients with ocular irritation.”

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1 Chang C et al. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2012;53(1):429-433.
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