Reduction in Air Pollution linked to Improved Lungs of Children in Southern California

Reduction of Air Pollution linked Improved Lungs of Children in Southern California 

Cleaner air has for the first time been linked to bigger and stronger lungs among school-age children, according to findings released Wednesday from a two-decade study in Southern California by The New England Journal of Medicine

Adverse effects of air pollution on the lungs in childhood can potentially have long-term effects, lung function lower than the

 predicted value for a healthy adult has been found to be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and increased mortality rate. Scientists knew from previous research that air pollution stunts the growth of children’s lungs, permanently reducing their ability to breathe.

Researchers have measured lung function of more then 2,000 children from public schools in five of the most polluted communities in Southern California: Long Beach, Mira Loma, Riverside, San Dimas and Upland. Field teams took repeated measurements of students’ ability to breathe as they grew from age 11 to 15 and  corresponding to three separate calendar periods: 1994–1998, 1997–2001, and 2007–2011. Mean ages of the children within each cohort were 11 years at the beginning of the period and 15 years at the end.

Southern California has historically been plagued by high levels of air pollution due to the large motor-vehicle fleet, numerous industries, the largest seaport complex in the United States, and a natural landscape that traps polluted air over the Los Angeles basin. 

With mounting scientific evidence of the adverse health effects of air pollution, aggressive pollution-reduction policies have been enacted. These have included strategies to control pollution from mobile and stationary sources, as well as fuel and consumer-product reformulations. As a result, air-pollution levels have been trending downward over the past several decades in Southern California.

Scientists knew from previous researches that air pollution stunts the growth of children’s lungs, permanently reducing their ability to breathe.

The study was completed over 13 years spanned by the three cohorts, proves Significant improvements in lung-function development observed in both boys and girls and in children with asthma and children without asthma. The proportions of children with clinically low FEV1 at 15 years of age declined significantly, from 7.9% to 6.3% to 3.6% across the three periods, as the air quality improved in U.S are of  southern California.

The researchers have found that long-term improvements in air quality were associated with statistically and clinically significant positive effects on lung functionality and  growth in children.

Source: The New England Journal of Medicine