A new study has revealed that around two million of the new cases of asthma diagnosed each year in children may be caused by breathing an airborne traffic-related pollutant that is a major public health concern. , especially in the big cities.
The authors of the work, scientists from George Washington University, have carried out another study in which they found that urban air pollution was linked to an excess of 1.8 million deaths worldwide. In the new work, which has been published in The Lancet Planetary Health, they evaluated the rate of pediatric asthma cases caused by this pollutant in more than 13,000 cities.
“Our study found that nitrogen dioxide puts children at risk of developing asthma, and the problem is especially acute in urban areas,” said Susan Anenberg, co-senior author of the paper and professor of environmental and occupational health at George Washington University. . “The findings suggest that clean air should be a critical part of strategies to keep children healthy.”
The impact of nitrogen dioxide on childhood asthma risk
Asthma is a chronic disease that causes inflammation of the airways and lungs. Anenberg and her team analyzed the concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, or NO2, – a pollutant from vehicle exhaust, power plants and industrial areas – in the soil. In addition, they looked for new cases of asthma that appeared in children from 2000 to 2019.
The main findings of the research include:
- Of the estimated 1.85 million new pediatric asthma cases worldwide in 2019 that are attributed to NO2, two-thirds occurred in urban areas.
- The fraction of NO2-related pediatric asthma cases in urban areas has recently been declining, probably due to more stringent clean air regulations in higher-income countries such as the United States.
- Despite improvements in air quality in Europe and the US, dirty air, and specifically NO2 pollution, has increased in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.
- Pediatric asthma cases linked to NO2 pollution pose a large public health burden in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
In a previous study, these researchers found that NO2 was associated with around 13% of the global pediatric burden of asthma and up to 50% of asthma cases in the 250 most populous cities in the world. The fraction of NO2-related pediatric asthma cases decreased from 20% in 2000 to 16% in 2019, indicating that enjoying cleaner air in Europe and parts of the United States has had significant health benefits of children, especially for those living near busy highways and industrial areas.
“Reducing fossil fuel-powered transportation can help children and adults breathe easier and benefit health with fewer pediatric asthma cases and deaths”
A second study by Veronica Southerland at The George Washington University, Anenberg and colleagues has found that 1.8 million excess deaths in 2019 alone may be linked to urban air pollution, showing that 86% of adults and children living in cities around the world are exposed to a level of fine particles that exceeds the guidelines established by the World Health Organization.
“Reducing fossil fuel-powered transportation can help children and adults breathe easier and can pay big health dividends, such as fewer cases of pediatric asthma and excess deaths,” Anenberg said. At the same time, it would also reduce greenhouse gas emissions, leading to a healthier climate.”
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