Pollution Levels Linked to Lung Function in Children

A new study indicates that children in the Los Angeles area have higher lung function, which officials claim are a testament to cleaner air.

Children raised in Southern California now have better lung function over their counterparts from the mid-1990s on account of a relentless decrease in air pollution. That conclusion is the consequence of a sweeping, historic study that occurred more than two decades and followed 2,120 children more than three different periods - 1994-98, 1997-2001 and 2007-11.

"We found that long-term improvements in air quality were associated with statistically and clinically positive effects on lung function growth in children," according to the University of Southern California's Children's Health Study.

"We expect that our results are relevant for areas outside Southern California, since the pollutants we found most strongly linked to improved health - nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter - are elevated in any urban environment," said W. James Gauderman, the study's lead author and professor of preventative medicine at the university's Keck School of Medicine.

The USC professor of preventive medicine continues, "If emissions from those sources remain the same, we could lose some of the gains we've seen in air quality."

He also makes sure to note, however, "One of our most important findings was that the percentage of children with abnormally low lung function at age 15 declined from nearly 8 percent, to less than 4 percent in the most recent [group]."

The study was funded by the Health Effects Institute, a partnership of the auto industry and federal government; as well as the California Air Resources Board, Hastings Foundation and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.