freeways lungs

i can only rant but nothing can be done ... that is just so sad =(

Living Near Freeways Hurts Kids' Lungs

FRIDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Children growing up alongside freeways risk having their lung development impaired, which can increase the likelihood of serious respiratory diseases later in life, researchers report.

Other studies have shown that children living next to highways are more likely to develop respiratory problems, such as asthma. But this is the first study to show that long exposure to car and truck exhaust actually affects the growth of the lungs, and hence their capacity.

The report is published in the Jan. 26 online issue of The Lancet.

"Exposure from tailpipe emissions from motor vehicles potentially carries chronic health risks to children's lung development," said lead researcher W. James Gauderman, an assistant professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. "We found that kids who live closer to freeways had significantly less lung capacity, compared with kids who lived further from freeways."

In the study, Gauderman and his colleagues followed 3,677 children for eight years, tracking their lung development. The children were 10 at the start of the study, and came from 12 southern California communities. The air quality differed in each community.

The researchers found that lung growth in children who lived within 500 meters of a freeway (about a quarter of a mile) was significantly less than children who lived 1,500 meters or more from a freeway.

Gauderman's group also found that exposure to freeways and regional air pollution had negative and independent effects on the growth of lung function. In addition, there was a significant drop in percentage of expected lung function among 18-year-olds who lived within 500 meters of a freeway.

Gauderman thinks that these effects on lung development are serious. "Lung capacity is something that once a child is done growing, that amount of lung capacity they have is carried with them throughout their adult life," he explained.

Lung capacity is further reduced as people age, Gauderman said. "Reduced lung capacity is a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease and respiratory diseases, such as emphysema," he added.

"What we worry most about are kids who have compromised lung function to start out with," Gauderman said. "When they are older, they will have a significantly increased risk for respiratory diseases."

One expert thinks that the problem is real, but the solution is elusive, and only changes in neighborhoods or automobile emissions seem likely to have an impact.

"Prior studies and common sense both suggest that breathing in a great deal of automobile exhaust cannot be good for the healthy development of children's lungs," said Dr. David L. Katz, an associate professor of public health and director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine.

These data show a clear and clinically important association between the proximity of a child's home to a major freeway and deficits in lung function by age 18, Katz said. "The deficits observed in the force and volume of each breath suggests increased risk of asthma and bronchitis, as well as a decreased capacity for physical exertion," he said.

What these investigators cannot do is fix the problem, Katz said. "Can we redesign urban neighborhoods so that no home or school is near highway traffic? Can we reduce the volume and/or composition of car exhaust so that highways no longer represent threats to the lungs of growing children?" he asked.

More information

The American Academy of Family Physicians can tell you more about outdoor air pollution.

Copyright © 2007 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

wonderless years

my rant of the blog is about irresponsible people and a chain reaction of events that leads to this rant

it is all common sense, but i still like to put this all down

if someone care about children and the well being of children would they choose to open a preschool next to a location of a busy freeway overpass in los angeles? especially the busy 10 and 405 intersection ... and the 405 was also expanded which means more cars and more pollutants in the morning hours.

maybe they didn’t do it intentionally or they did because all they care is about the money since it is a business.

another argument would be affordability ... but then what is the price of your child health?

it is really the chicken or the egg ... supply and demand ... and the cycle of hypocritical issue

if there is one preschool that is not near the freeway that cost let say $1,000 a month vs. the one that is just next to it that cost $800 a month ... but then your child would suffer from air pollution that would lead to deteriorate lung functions and cardiovascular diseases down the road as in leading into adulthood ... would you rethink for a moment ... starting at age 2 exposed for 4-8 hours a day until they turn 5 or 6 before moving them to a public school hopefully not near a freeway ... sinus infection that would lead to asthma, bronchitis etc … even as healthy as your child to begin with, exposure to even second hand smoking is a bad deal starting at a very young age.

why are those preschool given a license? what is the loophole of criteria to open a preschool but not dealing with environmental issue … which also is a health issue … in a virus level … should someone responsible who has the power to change please put this down for any school private or public … do not have schools be built near freeways which is a toxic area.

the worst of all thing ... is be in denial ... seriously it doesn't matter which direction the wind blows ... the worst is when there is no wind to blow anything away and all the pollutants just settle in the air where the children laugh away their lives!

here is a letter in regards to health of children who grow up breathing polluted air:

http://www.portoflosangeles.org/EIR/TraPacFIER/FEIR_Chapter_2G_Academia_and_Local_Chapters.pdf