Health consequences of air pollution in Los Angeles

Los Angeles is one of the U.S. cities most affected with air pollution. California, in general, is one of the U.S. states with major air pollution issue as there are three cities in Golden State that are ranked among top ten most polluted cities in United States – Los Angeles, Bakersfield, and Visalla-Porterville.

Los Angeles is characterized with heavy traffic – plenty of cars in combination with plenty of sunshine results in highly polluted air.

The latest study by the University of Southern California says that air pollution has serious health consequences on L.A. residents. In fact, at least 8 percent of the more than 300,000 cases of childhood asthma in Los Angeles County can be linked to traffic-related air pollution at homes within 250 feet of a busy roadway.

Children are particularly sensitive to polluted air and plenty of children in L.A. county lives near major traffic corridors. The chronic effects of air pollution on respiratory health have been well documented with plenty of different studies, with children usually being the most affected.

Asthma may not be the only disease resulting from excessive air pollution. Rob McConnell, professor of preventive medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, warned that „other diseases may be caused or exacerbated by urban air pollution, including atherosclerosis, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and neurological disorders.“

Polluted air in California accounts each year for around $193 million in hospital costs according to the Rand Corporation study, with Los Angeles spending the most money in nation on air pollution-related ailments.

Current estimates say that air pollution kills around 25,000 people each year in California. This means that the state of California must come up with new clean air polices in order to ensure healthy living for its residents.

The possible solutions include reducing traffic, using electric or hybrid cars or traveling with public transport, encourage walking, etc.

Traffic pollution facts

Term traffic pollution refers mostly to the form of air pollution coming from vehicles (excessive traffic), though it sometimes can also refer to noise pollution coming from cars and other vehicles.

Traffic pollution still continues to grow, even despite the cleaner vehicle engines. This is because there are more cars on the roads as the result of growing human population.

One of the U.S. cities worst affected with traffic pollution is Los Angeles. In Europe, this is the case with Athens.

Several studies have confirmed the link between the excessive traffic-related air pollution and premature birth. Pre-term born babies have an increased risk of death and are more likely to develop different disabilities throughout their life. This means that pregnant women should try to reduce their exposure to traffic as much as possible. Not only that, heavy exposure of children to traffic pollution can also cause asthma, allergies as well as impaired respiratory function.

A high level of traffic pollution also increases the risk of heart attack and can therefore lead to a premature death from heart disease. Traffic-related air pollution can also cause inflammation and oxidative stress in the brain.

The recent EU study has shown that lung transplant patients that have lived in areas close to traffic pollution have double the risk of organ rejection.

According to a recent study by the University of Massachusetts the total additional asthma-specific costs due to traffic-related pollution are at about $18 million per year.

Asthma is the most common chronic childhood illness in developed countries. Excessive traffic pollution is one of the main factors causing asthma in many parts of the world.

Elderly people who live in areas with high levels of traffic pollution often have lower performance in cognitive tests compared to those who had been exposed to lower levels of traffic pollution throughout their life.

Traffic-related air pollution - Interesting facts

Cars and other vehicles release different air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ultrafine particles and volatile organic compounds. that can have negative effects on not only our environment but also on human health. High traffic means bigger air pollution, and latest study has revealed that traffic-related pollution near schools is having significant impact to the development of asthma in kids. In fact the study has showed that children in schools located in high-traffic environments had a 45 percent increased risk of developing asthma. Asthma, a chronic childhood disease is lately experiencing an increasing trend in developing countries, and one of the main reasons for this is air pollution. Scientists have also discovered that the risk associated with traffic-related pollution exposure at schools was almost as high as for residential exposure, and combined exposure accounting for time spent at home and at school had a slightly larger effect.

Another interesting study found that traffic-related air pollution can even be linked to a higher death rate among people who initially survived strokes.

Some recent estimates say that traffic pollution is the cause of tens of thousands of deaths every year across Europe. Also traffic fumes are held responsible for more than 25,0000 new cases of chronic bronchitis and more than 500,000 asthma attacks each year in Europe.

Traffic-related air pollution is worst on highways.

People living close to highways and large roads (the major sources of traffic-related air pollution) die earlier compared to those farther away.

Children who are exposed to high levels of traffic-related pollution early in life have six times the risk of developing persistent wheezing by age three than children exposed to low levels of traffic-related pollution.