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Children and Car Fumes |
| Posted on Jul 20 2008 at 8:25 AM |
| News / Blog >> Allergies |
Researchers tested around 2000 four-year-olds and a group of more than 300 6-year-olds for asthma, wheezing, eczema and sneezing. They also looked at how near to major roads the children had lived at birth and at age 2, 3, and 6. After taking into account other factors that cause allergies, the scientists found children living close to heavy traffic were 50% more likely to have hayfever, eczema, bronchitis and asthma. The report appeared in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. It is thought that tyre and diesel engine particles and dust do not only trigger allergies, but actually cause them. The study suggests that Britain's allergy epidemic could be partly caused by the steep rise in the number of cars and lorries on the road. The number of allergy sufferers has trebled in the past 20 years and it is now thought that one in three people suffer some type of allergy at some point in their lives.
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