Yesterday we reported that a New study shows diesel exhaust air pollution lower than EPA standards damages children’s lungs.
Today we are pleased to cover new research from MFN members Environmental Health Centers at the University of Southern California that shows that reductions in air pollution in Southern California have improved children’s respiratory health.
The research, building on the USC Children’s Health Study, followed over 4.600 children in eight Southern California communities across three different time periods from 1993-2012. In addition to monitoring air quality, they also looked at children with and without asthma, and whether they reported respiratory symptoms.
Along with significant improvements in air pollution levels, the authors found a decrease in reported respiratory symptoms in children both with and without asthma. Respiratory symptoms decreased by 32 percent in children with asthma and 21 percent in children without.
The research was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers were Kiros Berhane, PhD; Chih-Chieh Chang, PhD; RobMcConnell, MD;W. James Gauderman, PhD; Edward Avol, MS; Ed Rapapport, MPH; Robert Urman, PhD; Fred Lurmann, MS; and Frank Gilliland, MD, Ph
For more information, review the USC blog post on the research.
New Research published from the CHS: Less pollution = improvement in children’s respiratory health, USC Environmental Health Centers