"Close proximity to vehicular traffic-related emissions, either at home or at school, can lead to chronic effects in the respiratory health of children with asthma," said Fernando Holguin, M.D., assistant professor of pulmonary medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, and lead author of the study.
The researchers, whose study appears in the second issue for December of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, looked at the effects of road and traffic density on children's lung function and respiratory symptoms in the border town of Ciudad Juarez in Mexico.
Asthmatic children, but not children without asthma, were affected by living in homes in areas with high road density, the study said, adding that living within 50 meters of high density road areas increased the chances of respiratory symptoms in asthmatic children by more than 50 percent.
