Health effects from childhood exposure to traffic pollution can last a lifetime in children. Living near a major highway or busy road in a city may halt lung development affecting lung function.
Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) found that children who lived within 500 meters of a freeway, or approximately a third of a mile, since age 10 had substantial deficits in lung function by the age of 18 years, compared to children living at least 1500 meters, or approximately one mile, away.
“Someone suffering a pollution-related deficit in lung function as a child will probably have less than healthy lungs all of his or her life,” says lead author W. James Gauderman, Ph.D., associate professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. “And poor lung function in later adult life is known to be a major risk factor for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.”
“Otherwise-healthy children who were non-asthmatic and non-smokers also experienced a significant decrease in lung function from traffic pollution,” continues Gauderman. “This suggests that all children, not just susceptible subgroups, are potentially affected by traffic exposure”.
Lung function is a measure of lung health based on how much air a person can exhale after taking a deep breath, and how quickly that air can be exhaled. Children’s lung function develops rapidly during adolescence until they reach their late teens or early 20s. A deficit in lung development during childhood is likely to translate into reduced function for the remainder of life.
Previous studies have demonstrated links between lung function growth and regional air quality. The findings in this study add to that result, demonstrating that both regional air pollution and local exposure to traffic pollution affect lung development.
Study sites included the cities of Alpine, Anaheim, Glendora, Lake Arrowhead, Lake Elsinore, Long Beach, Mira Loma, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Dimas, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and Upland of US. “These findings are equally applicable to children and people living in busy cities of developing countries where pollution control rules are not completely followed and enforced, as in India, Pakistan, Bangla Desh, Sri Lanka, and other third world countries” added Dr. Anil Singhal, MD.