{"id":2816,"date":"2022-03-15T14:29:11","date_gmt":"2022-03-15T14:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=2816"},"modified":"2022-03-15T14:29:11","modified_gmt":"2022-03-15T14:29:11","slug":"traffic-related-air-pollution-results-in-new-childhood-asthma-the-actions-we-take-today-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/global-clean-air\/2022\/03\/15\/traffic-related-air-pollution-results-in-new-childhood-asthma-the-actions-we-take-today-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"Traffic-related air pollution results in new childhood asthma. The actions we take today matter."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Asthma changes the physical, emotional and academic trajectory of a child\u2019s life. More than <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">5 million children<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in the United States have asthma, and every year there are over<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> 750,000 emergency room visits and over 74,000 hospitalizations for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/asthma\/most_recent_national_asthma_data.htm\">asthma among children<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Asthma is the<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/healthyschools\/asthma\/index.htm#:~:text=Asthma%20is%20a%20leading%20chronic,are%20likely%20to%20have%20asthma.\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> leading cause of missed school<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> days each year, and it has been linked to diminished school performance. Although ambient air pollution exposure has long been associated with the worsening of asthma symptoms, mounting evidence indicates that it also leads to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=gjxhy3VhA4k\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">development<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of asthma among children<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/journals\/lanplh\/article\/PIIS2542-5196(21)00255-2\/fulltext\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A recent study<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> found that annually nearly 2 million children worldwide develop asthma due to exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sub>2<\/sub><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">), a traffic-related air pollutant. Transportation is a key driver of this pollution. Freight trucks and buses make up less than 10% of the vehicles on U.S. roads, but they are responsible for half of the transportation sector\u2019s nitrogen oxide emissions. In some urban areas,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> 1 in 5 new childhood asthma cases are due to exposure to nitrogen dioxide; in particular neighborhoods, this risk can be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.edf.org\/airqualitymaps\/oakland\/health-disparities\">twice as high<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>How NO<\/b><b><sub>2<\/sub> <\/b><b>causes asthma<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Studies exploring how NO<sub>2<\/sub> affects the lungs indicate that repeated or long term exposure results in activation of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/isa\/integrated-science-assessment-isa-oxides-nitrogen-oxides-sulfur-and-particulate-matter\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">biological pathways<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that contribute to the development of asthma: secretion of inflammatory cytokines, altered cellular structure, oxidative stress, allergic sensitization, increased mucus formation, airway remodeling and airway hyperresponsiveness. Studies of NO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sub>2<\/sub> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">exposure to human bronchial epithelial cells find an increase in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC4967931\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">pro-inflammatory mediators<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and inflammation involved in the pathology of asthma.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A growing body of evidence describes the impact of NO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sub>2<\/sub><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> on new cases of childhood asthma. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It shows consistent and reproducible effects across different cities and populations in North America. Below are a few:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucsf.edu\/news\/2013\/06\/106861\/early-life-air-pollution-linked-childhood-asthma-minorities-study\">studies<\/a> of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Latino and African American children across Chicago, Bronx, Houston, San Francisco and Puerto Rico,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> a higher average NO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sub>2<\/sub> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">exposure during the first year of life was associated with higher odds of being diagnosed with asthma. This was also seen in another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC1940095\/pdf\/ehp0115-001140.pdf\">study<\/a> of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">children in East Boston<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Massachusetts.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Among <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">1.2 million children in Quebec<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC4977042\/pdf\/ehp.1509838.pdf\">scientists found<\/a> that higher childhood exposures to NO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sub>2<\/sub><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> levels at their residential address were linked to increased risk of asthma development.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A recent <a href=\"https:\/\/pressroom.usc.edu\/better-air-quality-leads-to-fewer-kids-developing-asthma-in-nations-most-polluted-region\/\">study<\/a> of 4,140 elementary school children (with no history of asthma) in s<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">outhern California<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> provides particularly strong evidence.\u00a0 Scientists found that a drop in nitrogen dioxide, over a period of air pollution decline, was associated with a reduction in asthma incidence. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/pnas\/116\/32\/15883.full.pdf\">This finding was reinforced<\/a> when using cutting edge causal methods, which found that \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">childhood asthma incidence rates would have been significantly higher had the observed reduction in ambient NO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sub>2<\/sub><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in southern California not occurred in the 1990s and early 2000s<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and asthma incidence rates would have been significantly lower had NO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sub>2<\/sub><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> been lower than what it was observed to be.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">These are just a few of the studies that have been done in North America. A <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/27881237\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">systematic review and meta-analysis<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of 41 studies from around the world investigated the impact of different air pollutants on asthma incidence among children. Of these, 20 studies directly assessed the impact of NO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sub>2<\/sub><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and found that a small increase (4 \u00b5g\/m3) in NO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sub>2<\/sub> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">exposure <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">led to a 5% increase in the risk of developing childhood asthma.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Across these studies, scientists took pains to ensure the findings were not due to other factors like age, sex, race-ethnicity, poverty or smoking in the household.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>We have an opportunity to protect our children&#8217;s health<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We have an opportunity to protect our children by identifying communities overburdened by NO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sub>2<\/sub><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> pollution and its sources.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">First, we need to end the blindspots on NO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sub>2<\/sub><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. We must make the true cost of diesel clear through investments in transparency and accountability. New satellite data and community monitoring can help identify pollution hotspots. Robust funding for NO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sub>2<\/sub><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> monitoring, analysis and enforcement will enhance existing data to support protective action. The US EPA\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"\/monitoring\/heres-how-community-groups-can-receive-funding-for-air-monitoring\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">$20 million in grant funding<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for increased air quality monitoring in communities overburdened by pollution is an important step in this direction.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Better emissions inventories\u2013especially around areas of high truck traffic like ports and warehouses\u2013are important to further illuminate sources and target solutions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Finally, eliminating harmful pollution from diesel vehicles is crucial. Transitioning to electric school buses, cars and trucks is feasible. <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/files\/2022\/02\/EDF-MDHD-Electrification-v1.6_20220209.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">New research from EDF<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> finds that by 2027, electric freight trucks and buses will be cheaper to purchase and operate than their combustion engine counterparts. EPA recently proposed <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.edf.org\/media\/epa-proposes-pollution-standards-freight-trucks-and-buses?ut_sid=68bf0f3a-8c38-4698-b801-f3de8f35ed48&amp;_ga=2.148973746.584674103.1646937560-906945263.1641481966\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">stronger pollution standards<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for medium- and heavy-duty freight trucks and buses, but it needs to go much further in leveraging zero-emitting solutions. Bold clean energy investments by Congress would provide credits to people who purchase electric vehicles, support development of additional charging infrastructure and increase air quality monitoring to ensure that NO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sub>2<\/sub><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> doesn\u2019t linger in frontline communities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.edf.org\/action\">We must act now<\/a> to reduce NO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sub>2<\/sub><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> pollution and prevent more asthma every year. The status quo is clearly unacceptable for our children.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Asthma changes the physical, emotional and academic trajectory of a child\u2019s life. More than 5 million children in the United States have asthma, and every year there are over 750,000 emergency room visits and over 74,000 hospitalizations for asthma among children. Asthma is the leading cause of missed school days each year, and it has &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":125866,"featured_media":2817,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,13,26],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-2816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-homepage","category-science"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/global-clean-air\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/global-clean-air\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/global-clean-air\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/global-clean-air\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/125866"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/global-clean-air\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/global-clean-air\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/global-clean-air\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/global-clean-air\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/global-clean-air\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/global-clean-air\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2816"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/global-clean-air\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}