Car pollutants reduce size of young lungs

Scientists have discovered a new health threat to children from a largely overlooked group of pollutants from cars.

A four-year study of almost 1,700 schoolchildren aged nine to 13 found that the pollutants, known as acid aerosols, "significantly" damage a child's health by permanently reducing the size and strength of their lungs.

The findings reinforce mounting evidence about the links between air pollution and asthma, after The Independent on Sunday disclosed that another major pollutant, ozone, can cause asthma.

Experts increasingly believe that serious bouts of air pollution will exacerbate asthma in sufferers.

The study, done on children in California, has alarmed British pollution experts.

Until now, acid vapours, which are formed in the air from exhaust fumes, were regarded as less important than other major pollutants such as nitrogen, ozone or carbon monoxide, and were seen as mostly related to acid rain. As a result, the Government does not measure acid vapour levels in Britain's cities.

The Independent on Sunday's demand for asthmatics to be involved in planning and transport policy-making won further ministerial support last week. Hazel Blears, the Public Health minister, urged Labour council leaders to support our call for every authority in Britain to introduce formal policies on asthma.

The new survey, published last week by the American Thoracic Society, found that children in southern California suffered a 10 per cent drop in the growth of their lungs after being exposed to a cocktail of pollutants from cars and industry, such as particulates, soot and acid vapour. Dr Jim Gauderman, its author, from the University of Southern California's School of Medicine, said that although his main findings underlined other studies linking air pollution and lung damage, the acid vapour discovery was particularly worrying.

Acid aerosols "showed the most consistent effect on lung function growth", he said. "Larger deficits in lung function growth rate were seen in children who reported spending more time outdoors."

Tim Brown, the deputy general secretary of the National Society for Clean Air, said these findings should lead British scientists and the Government to re-examine the role of acid aerosols after several years of neglect. Mr Brown said experts now believe that acid aerosols play a crucial part in damaging lungs and exacerbating lung diseases such as asthma by weakening the lining of the lung, allowing other pollutants to harm the organ's tissues and cells.

"Whatever pollutants we look it, we're increasingly realising that air pollution has an effect at lower levels than previously thought," he said. "There are lots of different pollutants but there is much less known about acid aerosol levels in Britain."