American Lung Association: Air Pollution Facts & Air Quality Info - Children's Health

air pollution, ozone pollution, air quality, air pollution facts in the State of the Air 2007 report

stories of hope from those living with lung disease, and how they cope with air pollution, air quality issues, conditions & symptoms of their illness etc.

www.lungusa.org

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

The State of the Air in 2003-2005

Tables
◊ Populations at Risk in the U.S.
◊ Most Polluted Cities in the U.S.
◊ Most Polluted Counties in the U.S.
◊ Most Polluted Counties in Each State
◊ Cleanest Cities
◊ Cleanest Counties

Health Effects of Ozone and Particle Pollution
◊ Ozone Pollution
◊ Particle Pollution
◊ Focusing on Children's Health

Protecting the Nation From Air Pollution
◊ EPA Should Strengthen the Ozone Standard
◊ Ways to Clean Up Our Air
◊ What You Can Do to Protect Your Family

State Tables

Appendix: Description of Methodology

Health Effects of Ozone and Particle Pollution cont'd

Focusing on Children’s Health
Children may look like miniature adults, but they’re not. Air pollution is especially dangerous to them because their lungs are growing and because they are so active.

Just like the arms and legs, the largest portion of a child’s lungs will grow long after he or she is born. Eighty percent of their tiny air sacs develop after birth. Those sacs, called the alveoli, are where the life-sustaining transfer of oxygen to the blood takes place. The lungs and their alveoli aren’t fully grown until children become adults.⁴⁶ In addition, the body’s defenses that help adults fight off infections are still developing in young bodies.⁴⁷ Children have more respiratory infections than adults, which also seems to increase their susceptibility to air pollution.⁴⁸

Furthermore, children don’t behave like adults, which also affects their vulnerability. They are outside for longer periods and are usually more active when outdoors. Consequently, they inhale more polluted outdoor air than adults typically do.⁴⁹

Major Reviews Confirm Harm to Children
The effects of air pollution on children are striking. In 2004, two major analyses concluded that air pollution is especially harmful to children.

The World Health Organization (WHO) published an in-depth look at the research on children’s health and air pollution. Most importantly, the scientists concluded that particle pollution caused infant deaths. In addition, they found that air pollution caused a host of harmful effects on children, including:

short-term and long-term decreased lung function rates and caused lower lung function levels, critical measures of how well the child will breathe throughout his or her life (due primarily to exposure to particle pollution and traffic-related pollution);
aggravation of asthma (from exposure to particle as well as ozone pollution);
increased prevalence and incidence of cough and bronchitis (primarily from particle pollution); and
increased risk of upper and lower respiratory tract infections.⁵⁰

The American Academy of Pediatrics published a statement on the dangers of outdoor air pollution to children’s health, pointing out the special differences for children.⁵¹ The Academy reported many of the same health effects cited by the WHO study, but also focused on the sources common to far too many children. Both the WHO monograph and the Academy statement highlighted recent studies showing that children living near highly traveled highways appear to be particularly harmed by traffic-related pollution. The Academy statement highlighted the specific concern over diesel school buses, citing a pilot study that showed children riding inside a school bus may be exposed to four times more diesel exhaust than children riding in a car.⁵²

New Research on Prenatal Exposure to Air Pollution
Several studies published in 2005 found prenatal exposure to air pollution can harm children. A study of pregnant women in four Pennsylvania counties found an increased risk of preterm births linked to chronic exposure to high levels of air pollution during the last six weeks of pregnancy.⁵³ A study of three low-income neighborhoods in New York City found that infants born to nonsmoking mothers faced a possible increased risk of cancer from living in areas with elevated urban area air pollutants.⁵⁴ A third study in the Czech Republic found evidence that the mother’s exposure to air pollution may even alter the immune systems of the fetus.⁵⁵

Air Pollution Linked to Asthma Attacks, New Onset of Asthma
Researchers from Yale University studied children with asthma whose mothers had tracked their symptoms on a daily basis. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that children with asthma were particularly vulnerable to ozone even at levels below the EPA’s current eight-hour ozone standard.⁵⁶ An accompanying editorial warned, “Air pollution is one of the most underappreciated contributors to asthma exacerbation.”⁵⁷

A recent study suggests that year-round exposure to ozone may be associated with an increased risk of the development of asthma. While more research is needed to confirm this finding, researchers tracking 3,500 students in southern California found an increased onset of asthma in children who were taking part in three or more outdoor activities in communities with high levels of ozone.⁵⁸

Air Pollution Increases Risk of Underdeveloped Lungs
Another finding from the Southern California Children’s Health Study looked at the long-term effects of particle pollution on teenagers. Tracking 1,759 children between ages 10 and 18, researchers found that those who grew up in more polluted areas face an increased risk of having underdeveloped lungs, that may never recover to their full capacity. The average drop in lung function was 20 percent below what was expected for the child’s age, similar to the impact of growing up in a home with parents who smoked.⁵⁹

Community health studies are pointing to less obvious but serious effects from year-round exposure to ozone, especially for children. Scientists followed 500 Yale University students and determined that living just four years in a region with high levels of ozone and related co-pollutants was associated with diminished lung function and frequent reports of respiratory symptoms.⁶⁰ A much larger study of 3,300 school children in southern California found reduced lung function in girls with asthma and boys who spent more time outdoors in areas with high levels of ozone.⁶¹

Cleaning Up Pollution Can Reduce Risk to Children
There is also real-world evidence that reducing air pollution can help protect children. Two new studies published in 2005 added more weight to the argument.

Changes in air pollution from the reunification of Germany proved a real-life laboratory. Both East and West Germany had different levels and sources of particles. Outdoor particle levels were much higher in East Germany, where they came from factories and homes. West Germany had higher concentrations of traffic generated particles. After reunification, emissions from the factories and homes dropped, but traffic increased. A German study explored the impact on the lungs of six-year olds from both East and West Germany. Total lung capacity improved with the lower particle levels. However, for those children living near busy roads, the increased pollution from the increased traffic kept them from benefiting from the overall cleaner air.⁶²

In Switzerland, particle pollution dropped during a period in the 1990s. Researchers there tracked 9,000 children over a nine-year period, following their respiratory symptoms. After taking other factors such as family characteristics and indoor air pollution into account, the researchers noted that during the years with less pollution, the children had fewer episodes of chronic cough, bronchitis, common cold, and conjunctivitis symptoms.⁶³

In this country, a 2001 study of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia remains one of the most interesting cases. Atlanta is a prime example of an urban area with a history of serious ozone problems. The determined efforts of the city to reduce traffic during the Olympics succeeded in not just reducing congestion, but in improving the health of children with asthma. Concerned about an expected traffic nightmare, the city brought in more buses and more subway cars, and encouraged ridesharing and telecommuting during the Summer Olympic Games. These measures created a prolonged period of low ozone pollution that resulted in significantly lower rates of childhood asthma events for children aged 1–16. The number of asthma acute-care events (e.g., treatment and hospitalization) decreased 42 percent in the Georgia Medicaid claims files. Pediatric emergency departments also saw significant reductions, as did the Georgia Hospital Discharge Database and a health maintenance organization database. It is important to note that researchers determined that weather was not the determining factor in the reduced ozone levels.⁶⁴

Living Near Highways May Be Especially Dangerous
One more warning about the exhaust from that truck we talked about earlier: being in heavy traffic or living near a road may be even more dangerous than being in other places in a community. Several studies have found that the vehicle emissions coming directly from those highways may be higher than in the community as a whole, increasing the risk of harm to people who live or work near busy roads.

Among the most vulnerable are children and teenagers. In southern California, a 2007 study found that air pollution may limit the capacity of the lungs in 10- to 18-year-olds who live within about one-third of a mile of a freeway. Such changes to lung function can reduce their capacity to breathe for the rest of their lives and increase their risk of serious lung diseases. Other recent research found that children who live near freeways had a higher risk of being diagnosed with asthma.^65,66 However, children are certainly not the only ones at risk. Studies have found increased risk of premature death to those who live near a major highway or an urban road.⁶⁷ Another study found an increase in risk of heart attacks from being in traffic, whether driving or taking public transportation.⁶⁸

How to Protect Yourself from Ozone, Particle Pollution
To minimize your exposure to ozone and particle pollution:

Pay attention to forecasts for high air pollution days to know when to take precautions
Avoid exercising near high-traffic areas
Avoid exercising outdoors when pollution levels are high, or substitute an activity that requires less exertion
Eliminate indoor smoking
Reduce the use of fireplaces and woodburning stoves

Bottom line: Help yourself and everyone else breathe easier. Support national, state and local efforts to clean up sources of pollution. Your life and the life of someone you love may depend on it.

Continue to Protecting the Nation from Air Pollution...

The information contained in this American Lung Association® website is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment, and the Lung Association recommends consultation with your doctor or health care professional.