Recent findings from a study by USC Keck School of Medicine indicate that the closer children live to freeways, the higher their risk of asthma. The findings are consistent with the Help California Breathe Easier public awareness campaign, which emphasizes the link between vehicle-produced air pollution and negative health effects, especially respiratory illness in children.

Help California Breathe Easier was launched earlier this year by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to advance public understanding about the negative health effects of vehicle-produced air pollution and to increase participation in the Bureau of Automotive Repair's Consumer Assistance Program (CAP), which pays motorists to voluntarily retire their high polluting vehicles or offers assistance toward smog-related repairs.

"Governor Schwarzenegger's Administration places children's health as a top priority," says State Public Health Officer Mark Horton, MD, MSPH. "Air pollution can aggravate diseases like asthma, one of the leading causes of school absenteeism. If our children aren't healthy, their success in school and in life is compromised."

In the study, Southern California researchers looked at the link between pollution and asthma in 208 children. They found that children who resided in homes closer to freeways and with higher levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO²) – a product of pollutants emitted from vehicle engines – were more likely to have developed asthma. The risk increased about 89 percent for approximately every 3/4 mile closer to the freeway the children lived. The findings were published in a recent issue of the journal Epidemiology.

"These results suggest that reductions in tailpipe emissions will translate into improved respiratory health of California children," says James Gauderman, PhD, lead author and associate professor of preventive medicine at the USC Keck School of Medicine. "Considering the enormous personal and economic costs associated with asthma, it is important to continue developing public-policy programs that aim to reduce traffic-related pollution."

"This is even more evidence of the clear link between vehicle pollution and respiratory illness," says Charlene Zettel, Consumer Affairs Director. "We must do everything we can to take high-polluting vehicles off the road."

The CAP seeks to reduce air pollution by permanently removing the worst polluting vehicles from California roadways. These vehicles make up only ten percent of the vehicles on the road, but they produce over 50 percent of all vehicle pollution.

The CAP's goal is to permanently remove 15,000 high-polluting vehicles from California roadways by June 2006. This represents more than 900 tons of smog-forming pollutants taken out of California's air, which benefits all Californians, especially children. According to the California Air Resources Board, children may be more strongly affected by air pollution because their lungs are still developing and they tend to spend more time outdoors, which increases their exposure.

For more information about Help California Breathe Easier or to obtain an application for the CAP, visit the Breathe Easier Web site at www.BreatheEasier.ca.gov or call 800-952-5210.

Source: Help California Breathe Easier