Study says traffic worsens childhood asthma

Traffic may be a nuisance all Southern Californians have to accept, but it also has a significant tie to something less benign: asthma.

A team led by a UC Irvine researcher has published a study showing that air pollution caused by traffic near the home worsens asthma in children and leads to more hospital visits.

Dr. Ralph Delfino and colleagues studied records for 2,768 children from two hospitals in northern Orange County, then matched their medical histories to pollution levels near their homes.

Previous studies have shown a connection between traffic levels and asthma diagnoses, but the impact of such pollution on the severity of symptoms — specifically those episodes that hospitalize children — had not been determined, according to the study.

— Michael Alexander