Air Quality has Negative Impact on Children

CNS--Despite improvements over the past 30 years, Southern California has substandard air quality that has been linked to a host of negative impacts on infants and children, according to a UCLA report released this month. The region's air quality received a "C" letter grade in the report, which cited a connection between air pollution and premature births, lower birth weight, birth defects and respiratory diseases in early life. Children are especially susceptible to the effects of air pollution because of their still-developing systems. Children have a larger lung surface area compared to their body weight, breathing in 50 percent more air per kilogram of body weight than adults, according to the report.

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