Study: Kids Who Live Near Freeways Have Trouble Breathing

A new study to be published in the Feb. 17 issue of the Lancet makes a strong case for the link between proximity to vehicular traffic and poor lung function in children. An article on Medical News Today sums up the report, which is currently available online to Lancet subscribers.

There's also a story on the report in today's New York Times.

The study is based on research done in suburban areas of California, where sprawling development means houses and schools close to freeways. But we here in New York have plenty of housing and schools next to highways, and a childhood asthma epidemic.

Thanks to the city's rampant real estate development, these days it's not just low-income housing that's crowded up against major roadways in New York; it's luxury condos and rental apartments as well. What might happen if the same people who wouldn't dream of feeding their kids anything but organic applesauce  suddenly woke up to the idea that breathing in the pollution spewed by cars and trucks could well have lifetime negative effects on their children's health?

Maybe if people with the paychecks to buy million-dollar penthouses or brownstones in swank neighborhoods start agitating, politicians might one day pay at least as much attention to exhaust fumes as they do to second-hand smoke.