Excerpted from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
August 2006
Living Near Heavy Traffic Increases Asthma Severity Ying-Ying
Meng, Rudolph P. Rull, Michelle Wilhelm, Beate Ritz, Paul
English, Hongjian Yu, Sheila Nathan, Marlena Kuruvilla, E.
Richard Brown
Children and adults who suffer from asthma and live near heavy
vehicular traffic are nearly three times more likely to visit
the emergency room or be hospitalized for their condition than
those who live near low traffic areas, according to this policy
brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. For
adults with asthma, medium and high traffic exposure increases
the likelihood of daily or weekly asthma symptoms by 40 percent
and 80 percent, respectively, compared with low traffic
exposure. The policy brief also notes that living in areas of
heavy traffic is a burden borne disproportionately by asthma
sufferers who are ethnic/racial minorities or from low-income
households. Researchers were able to link traffic-related air
pollution
to asthma severity after merging data from Los Angeles and San
Diego County
respondents to the 2001 California Health Interview Survey with
traffic counts provided by the California Department of
Transportation.
http://www.healthpolicy.ucla.edu/pubs/files/Traffic_Asthma_PB.081606.pdf |
