Effect of personal exposure to black carbon on changes in allergic asthma gene methylation measured 5 days later in urban children: importance of allergic sensitization

Table 1 Cohort characteristics (N = 143)

Characteristic	Seroatopy^a (n = 75)	Non-atopy (n = 68)	P value^h
Maternal ethnicity			0.34
Dominican	45/75 (60%)	46/68 (68%)
African American	30/75 (40%)	22/68 (32%)
Age mean [min–max], years	12.7 [10.4–14.3]	12.8 [10.5–14.0]	0.40
Girls	38/75 (51%)	39/68 (57%)	0.42
Maternal high-school degree or greater	40/74 (54%)	38/63 (60%)	0.46
Maternal asthma (+)	23/75 (31%)	19/68 (28%)	0.72
Prenatal ETS exposure^b (+)	23/74 (31%)	22/67 (33%)	0.62
Current ETS exposure^c (+)	7/67 (10%)	8/60 (13%)	0.82
Asthma^d	44/75 (59%)	30/68 (44%)	0.08
BMI^e z score, median [IQR]	1.15 [1.43]	0.91 [1.35]	0.28
Overweight (≥85th percentile)	40/75 (53%)	33/68 (49%)	0.57
Obesity (≥95th percentile)	24/75 (32%)	12/68 (18%)	<0.05
Personal BC^f μg/m³, median [IQR]
Day 1	1.23 [1.01]	1.27 [1.07]	0.68
Day 6	1.12 [1.25]	1.24 [1.29]	0.45
FeNO ppb^g, median [IQR]
Day 1	14.5 [15.3]	8.8 [8.85]	<0.01
Day 6	15.4 [12.4]	9.3 [8.81]	<0.01

IQR interquartile range
^aTotal IgE ≥80 IU/ML at age 7, 9, or 11 year
^bReport of any smoker in the house during pregnancy
^cReport of any smoker in the home during the 1-week sampling period
^dDetermined by a specialist physician using standardized criteria at age 5–12 years [42]
^eBody mass index (BMI) calculated by weight (kg)/height (m)², standard deviation (SD)
^fPersonal BC measured at time 1
^gFeNO measured at time 1, n = 31 missing due to either invalid data or ambient NO >100 ppb
^hChi-square test for categorical variables and Mann-Whitney test for continuous variables (age, BMI z score, personal BC, and FeNO)

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