NO2 Air Pollution Attributed to Over 8% of Child Asthma Cases

New research has shown that globally, one in every twelve cases regarding pediatric asthma is linked to exposure to harmful gas emitted by diesel automobiles.

Exposure to a large quantity of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) has been attributed to child related asthma. In 2020, a coroner in the UK decided that Ella Kissi-Debrah, a 9-year-old girl, died as a result of her exposure to NO2.

A team of researchers led by Susan Anenberg found that, in 2019, approximately 1.85 million new instances of asthma in children were connected to NO2. This figure is almost 5% lower than that of 2015 where 13% were attributed to this cause.

Although wealthy nations have made efforts towards decreasing car and traffic emissions in a bid to reduce pollution levels, the main problem is in big cities (where 2/3 of these asthma instances occur). Low-income countries like Sub-Saharan Africa and South America also stand at a disadvantage, with wealthy nations like North America able to reduce their NO2 triggered asthma cases by over 40%.

Jonathan Grigg, professor of paediatric respiratory and environmental medicine, explained that “It is important to note that the actual pollutants in the traffic emission mix that cause asthma remain elusive, and these results do not suggest that we should focus on only emissions of NO2 alone.”

Susan Anenberg commented that “I think this is a good news story for NO2. The fraction of new paediatric asthma cases that are attributable to NO2 has dropped. The key takeaway for me is the vast majority of people on the face of the planet are breathing air pollution that is unsafe.”

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