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Asthma
Asthma is the most common chronic disease among children and one of the
leading causes of school absenteeism in the U.S. today, where the overall
prevalence rate has increased 70% from 1980 to 1994 and annual costs due to
asthma total over $6 billion. It is estimated that asthma affected
1,681,000 million Californians and cost nearly $1.3 billion in 1998. Asthma
has been designated the top priority health outcome for environmental health
tracking in the states surveyed by the Pew Environmental Health Commission. Prematurity and low birth weight are major determinants of neonatal and
infant mortality and are associated with illnesses such as neurobehavioral
outcomes and respiratory disease.
There is mounting evidence that
exposure to air pollution is a risk factor for exacerbating
asthma and may be a risk factor for both low birth weight
and preterm birth. Air pollutants found near busy
roads as a product of traffic exhaust have been shown to be
associated with childhood respiratory illness, fetal growth
retardation, and prematurity.
Asthma in Alameda County
The hospitalization rate for asthma for the county is 172 per
100,000, which is the fifth highest in the state. Alameda
County is estimated to have 70 thousand people affected by asthma
and associated annual costs of over $52 million. For children,
Alameda County has the second highest asthma hospitalization rate in
the state (384/100,000).
1996 Olympics Study Show Asthma-Traffic Link
A study showing a clear relationship between traffic reduction and reduced
incidents of asthma was published in the
February 21st issue
of the Journal of the American Medical Association. During the
1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, the city virtually banned single
occupant cars in downtown Atlanta in order to prevent gridlock. Morning rush
hour traffic volumes decreased by more than 22%. This decreased the peak
amount of ozone by 28% during the 17 days of the Olympics. Researchers found
that asthma related acute care events decreased by 41.6% during the games.
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