July 10, 2006 -- Children Are Exposed to Lung-Damaging Air Pollution

Air pollution and children are an unhealthy mix, according to a research report and accompanying editorial in the July 6, 2006, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Carbon particles similar to those found in ambient air have been found in the airways of children, and increased levels of carbon correlate with decreased lung function in children, whose lungs develop steadily during childhood. In the past half-century, “we have learned a great deal about the effects of air pollution on health, through both controlled trials and epidemiologic studies,” researcher point out, and although overall air quality in urban environments has improved as the result of vehicle emission controls and cleaner-burning fuels, children are often exposed to particularly dangerous levels of air contamination in schools built near busy roadways or other sources of pollution. The editorial concludes that currently ongoing research into the specific components of air pollution that are responsible for health effects may enable policymakers to institute more specific control strategies. “Our children’s health depends on it,” the editorial summarizes. The research report, “Carbon in Airway Macrophages and Lung Function in Children,” and the editorial, “Air Pollution and Children—An Unhealthy Mix,” are published in the June 6, 2006, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.