Traffic pollution linked to kid allergies

MUNICH, Germany, July 14 (UPI) -- Allergic diseases appear more often in children who grow up near busy roads, researchers in Germany said.

Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, a German research group, studied over six years whether associations are identifiable between the onset of atopic diseases and exposure to air pollutants originating from traffic.

Study leader Dr. Joachim Heinrich compared the data of 3,061 6-year old children from Munich and its surroundings, who had been tracked from birth. The appearance of the specific IgE antibodies against common allergens in blood serum was tested in children at age 6.

The scientists were able to estimate individual values of exposure of children to fine dust and nitrogen dioxide, with the help of calculation models.

The study, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, showed that an escalation of asthmatic bronchitis and allergic sensitization to pollen and other common allergens occurred with increasing exposure to fine dust. Increased exposure to nitric oxide was linked to increases in eczema.

Compared with contemporaries living in more distant places, children who lived less than 165 feet from a very busy main road were between 1 percent to 50 percent more likely to contract asthmatic bronchitis, hay fever, eczema and allergic sensitization, the study said.