USC study finds big air pollution impacts on local c...(health burden of air pollution is useful...)

Date:11/4/2009

health burden of air pollution is useful for evaluating proposals to expand port facilities or transportation infrastructure in the L.A. area, McConnell noted. Both Long Beach and Riverside already have heavy automobile traffic corridors as well as truck traffic and regional pollution originating in the port complex, which is the largest in the United States.

The study drew upon data from the Children's Health Study (CHS), a longitudinal study of respiratory health among children in 12 Southern California communities, including Riverside and Long Beach. Researchers estimated the number of asthma cases and related complications that occurred because of air pollution, using information from epidemiological studies that they then applied to current exposure to air pollution and traffic in Southern California. The results showed that approximately 1,600 cases of childhood asthma in Long Beach and 690 in Riverside could be linked to living within 81 yards of a major road.

"The impact of roadway proximity on the overall burden of asthma-related illness is remarkable," McConnell says. "Air pollution is a more important contributor to the burden of childhood asthma than is generally recognized, especially to more severe episodes requiring visits to a clinic or emergency room."

Unlike regional air pollutants, the local traffic-related pollutants around homes and their effects are not currently regulated, he notes.

"This is a challenge to communities, to regulatory agencies and to public health," McConnell says. "Traffic-related health effects should have a central role on the transportation planning agenda."

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Contact: Meghan Lewit lewit@usc.edu 323-442-3941 University of Southern California Source:Eurekalert

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