California's urban, transportation policies contribute to children's asthma

California's urban, transportation policies contribute to children's asthma.

California's effort to reverse urban sprawl and encourage denser development may mean more children will live closer to polluted high-traffic areas. A new study estimates that near-road air pollution is at least partially responsible for 8 percent of childhood asthma cases in Los Angeles County. The authors reported that their findings "suggest that there are large and previously unappreciated public health consequences of air pollution" in metropolitan areas and that "compact urban development strategies should be coupled with policies to reduce near-roadway pollution exposure."