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The potential for harmful impacts on children’s health from particulate pollution related to traffic was one of the major messages delivered during the AQMD’s three-day international conference on
“Ultrafine Particles – the Science, Technology and Policy Issues,” held in Los Angeles, April 30-May 2, 2006.
Information on the health impacts from particulates and other air pollutants resulting from traffic was part of a presentation given by James Gauderman, Ph.D., of USC’s Keck School of Medicine during the conference. The presentation was based primarily on the results of a 14-year “Children’s Health Study,” and the recently released “Traffic, Susceptibility, and Childhood Asthma Study.” Both studies were conducted by Gauderman and other researchers at the University of Southern California.
Children living near freeways have a greater chance of developing asthma according to the studies. Children are especially susceptible to air pollution because their bodies are still developing and they breathe more rapidly than adults.
Asthma risks also increased by 50 percent for those living within 75 meters of a major road, and the most susceptible were residents with no family history of asthma, according to the studies.
During the conference other speakers outlined some of the steps that need to be taken to control ultrafine particles. Several recommendations were offered to achieve emissions of ultrafine particles which include:
• Further optimize the design of both engines and their emission control systems to reduce both the
mass and number of particles emitted;
• Continue reduction of sulfur content in fuels; and
• Establish a standard for lube oils that will result in lower ultrafine particle emissions.
Health scientists are concerned about the potential health effects of ultrafine particles for several reasons. When inhaled, ultrafines are deposited along the length of the airways, from the nose to deep alveolar lung tissue. Due to their minute size, studies indicate they can migrate from the airways to the central nervous system and organs throughout the body including the heart and brain. Research at the University of California, Los Angeles, has shown that ultrafine particles penetrate cells and may damage mitochondria, the body’s cellular energy factories. In addition, ultrafine particles can be shaped like tiny branches, rather than round balls, and have hundreds to thousands of times more surface area than the same mass of PM2.5 particles. This greatly increased surface area could make ultrafine particles capable
of transporting much larger amounts of toxic compounds into the body.
Most ultrafine particles are formed as engine exhaust gases exit the tailpipe and become diluted in air. Measurements along the 710 Freeway have found about 1 million ultrafine particles in a space the size of a sugar cube. Outdoor concentrations of ultrafine particles tend to be highest in the western Los Angeles Basin, where most vehicle traffic is concentrated, and somewhat lower in the inland valleys.
For more information, contact
Jean
Ospital at
(909) 396-2582. |
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Landmark International Conference Addresses the Effects of Air Pollution on Asthma
At a landmark international conference on
April 26-27, 2007, scientists, physicians, public health professionals, air quality officials, and policy makers from around the world addressed the impacts of air pollution on asthma sufferers. The event was held at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim.
“With the rising incidence of lung disease as a result of poor air quality, AQMD has taken a leadership position in accelerating policy and technology solutions to improve the condition of the air that we breathe,” said William Burke, Ed.D., Governing Board Chairman of the South Coast Air Quality Management District. “Throughout the world, there has been an alarming increase in the incidence of asthma.
AQMD hosted the two-day conference entitled “Asthma Is a Small World … Asthma Impacts of Air Pollution.” The event brought together an unprecedented breadth and depth of policy makers and health experts ranging from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, State Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, to regional, state, national and world-renowned asthma and air quality experts. United States Senator Barbara Boxer addressed the conference via video and Olympic Gold Medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee spoke about the challenge of achieving success with asthma.
AQMD also provided a Ride-N-Drive raising awareness of clean air
vehicles available, as well as offering tours of a Breathmobile®. Asthma Is a Small World provided a valuable focal point to gather information, ideas and international contacts regarding awareness of the human costs of delayed pollution cleanup efforts.
For more information, contact
Pom Pom Ganguli at
(909) 396-3185.
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