NEW RESEARCH: Improved air quality leads to fewer kids developing asthma in nation’s most-polluted region

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Pocket
WhatsApp

By LEIGH HOPPER, USC

PRESS COVERAGE: National Public Radio, Reuters,

Improved air quality in the Los Angeles region is linked to roughly
20 percent fewer new asthma cases in children, according to a USC study that
tracked Southern California children over a 20-year period.

The findings appear in the May 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The research expands on the landmark USC Children’s Health
Study, which found that children’s lungs had grown stronger in the
previous two decades and rates of bronchitic symptoms decreased as pollution
declined throughout the region.

“While the findings show a clear benefit of lower air pollution
levels, there must be continued efforts to reduce pollution in our region,”
said first author Erika Garcia, a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of
Preventive Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. “We’re
not in a place where we can stop and say, ‘Hey, we’ve arrived’.”

USC Infographic: Lower air pollution = less asthma
Graphic by Wendy Gutschow
Full study related infographic and printable PDF can be found here.

Los Angeles remains the nation’s most-polluted region, but
air quality improvements between 1993 and 2006 cut nitrogen dioxide pollution
by 22 percent and fine particulate matter by 36 percent.

Nitrogen dioxide can cause airway inflammation and airway
hyper-responsiveness. Particulate matter — tiny particles of soot, smoke dust,
etc. — can penetrate deep into the lungs and cause serious health problems.

To assess new-onset cases of asthma, USC scientists used
data from 4,140 children in nine California communities: Alpine, Lake Elsinore,
Lake Gregory, Long Beach, Mira Loma, Riverside, San Dimas, Santa Maria and
Upland. Parents or guardians completed questionnaires regarding their
children’s health. New-onset asthma was defined as a newly reported,
physician-diagnosed case of asthma on an annual questionnaire during follow-up.

Researchers looked at rates of new-onset asthma alongside
air pollution data collected from monitoring stations in each of those
communities during three different periods: 1993-2001, 1996-2004 and 2006-2014.
Using statistical methods, they separately examined four air pollutants and
found that two were associated with reductions in new-onset asthma. They estimated
that the nitrogen dioxide reductions achieved between 1993 and 2006 led to a 20
percent lower rate of asthma, while fine particulate matter reductions led to a
19 percent lower rate.

The findings add to the increasing scientific evidence supporting
the role of air pollution in the development of new cases of asthma. Asthma is
the most common chronic disease in children, affecting about 14 percent of
children around the world, and a major contributing factor to missed time from
school and work.

“This is encouraging news as it shows the number of new
cases of asthma in children can be reduced through improvements in air
quality,” said Kiros Berhane, a professor of preventive medicine at the Keck
School of Medicine of USC and one of the study’s authors. “This is very likely
a direct result of the science-based environmental policies that have been put
in place.”

In addition to Garcia and Berhane, the study’s other authors
are Talat Islam, Rob McConnell, Robert Urman, Zhanghua Chen and Frank
Gilliland, all of the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Keck School of
Medicine.

The research was supported by the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences (grants P30ES007048, P01ES009581, R01ES021801,
and R01ES025786), the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (grant
R01HL118455), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (grants R826708
and RD831861), and the Hastings Foundation.

Source link

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Pocket
WhatsApp

Never miss any important news. Subscribe to our newsletter.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *