1. Introduction
Environmental conditions play an important role in the pathogenesis and deterioration of chronic diseases1. Respiratory diseases is a major and increasingly global epidemic and has a great impact on humans, especially children2. Respiratory disease is the leading cause of death in children3, and its prevalence rate is still increasing4. The lung of children are still growing, the development and function of lung are easily altered by early exposure to environmental risk factors. It is easier to inhale more environmental risk factors through breathing, because children have more physical activities than adults5. Environmental risk factors may have adverse effects on children’s respiratory system and lead to a decline in lung function6. Exposure to traffic pollutants may cause children coughing, sneezing, asthma, and decreased lung function7-9. Phthalates, pesticides, and bisphenol-A (BPA) have been known as important risk factors for development and exacerbation of asthma10. In addition, environ ental tobacco smoke (ETS), air pollution and family environment may be associated with respiratory infection11-13. In particular, ETS exposure may cause an increase in symptoms of respiratory disease14,15. Most people spend most of their time at home, exposed to the risk factors in their living environment16,17. However, there is still less research on the impact of environmental risk factors in living environment on respiratory diseases. We examined associations between environmental risk factors in living environment and children’s respiratory health, as assessed by questionnaire and Pulmonary function measurements, in a cross-sectional study of a predominantly Chinese community in Jilin Province of China.