06) and a 310-ml

decrease in FVC (P = 0.04). In terms of percent of predicted values, this was equivalent see more to 8.0% lower FEV1 and 7.9% lower FVC (P = 0.05 for both). When analyses were restricted to the 33 subjects who reported never smoking regularly, effect estimates remained high but changed dramatically with adjustment (16.9 and 19.7% decreases in FEV1 and FVC, respectively; P < 0.05 for both), suggesting unstable results due to the small number of subjects. In analyses confined to concurrently assessed Antofagasta residents (n = 45), subjects who had either lived elsewhere or were older than 10 during the high exposure period served as the “unexposed” reference (n = 12). Effect estimates were similar, but the smaller sample size reduced statistical power (8.4 and 7.1% decreases in FEV1 and FVC (P = 0.10 for both)). Results were also similar when different age and arsenic concentration cut-offs were used to define early-life exposure. For example, with early-life exposure defined as >200 μg/l arsenic before age 18, adjusted differences in FEV1 and FVC between exposed (n = 45) and unexposed (n = 52) were 9.5% (P = 0.02) 4EGI-1 purchase and 11.7% (P = 0.006) (not shown in tables). Lung function deficits were similar (within 2% predicted) in analyses excluding the 9 participants without reproducible spirometry or the participants with the worst and best lung function (i.e.,

possible outliers). Table 3 shows exposure–response relationships between peak arsenic concentration before age 10 and FEV1 and FVC, respectively (P trend = 0.03 for both). Participants were also stratified into 3 groups based on highest early-life arsenic concentration: <50, 50–250, and >800 μg/l. Subjects exposed to 50–250 μg/l and >800 μg/l had 4.6% (P = 0.18) and 11.5% (P = 0.04) Celecoxib lower FEV1, respectively, than those exposed to <50 μg/l. A similar

pattern was seen for FVC. Effect estimates were similar when 8 subjects exposed to >800 μg/l only after age 10 were put in the intermediate group or excluded entirely. Table 4 shows prevalence of respiratory symptoms. Thirty-eight percent of exposed subjects reported breathlessness walking at a group pace compared to 14% of unexposed (POR = 5.94, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.36–26.02). The POR for reporting any breathlessness was 2.53 (95% CI 0.68–9.45). There was little evidence of associations with chronic cough, phlegm, chronic bronchitis, or “trouble breathing,” although few subjects reported these symptoms. Discussion The decreases in FEV1 and FVC and the PORs above 1.0 for breathlessness identified in this study AZD8931 suggest that early-life exposure to arsenic in drinking water affects lung function, and these effects remain many years after cessation of high exposure. Assuming each pack-year smoked is associated with a 7.4-ml decrease in FEV1 (Dockery et al. 1988), the decrease in lung function we observed was similar in magnitude to that of 45 pack-years.