Pediatricians Strengthen Stand on Air Pollution, December 2004
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has published an important new policy statement that strengthens its stand on the dangers that air pollution poses to children, and offers new recommendations on how to help solve the problem.
The Policy Statement, published in the December 2004 issue of Pediatrics, finds that there are adverse health effects at levels near or below the current standards for ozone, particulate matter, and nitrogen dioxide, and concludes that the 1997 NAAQS may not adequately protect children. It updates an earlier Policy Statement issued in 1993.
Specifically, the new Policy Statement finds that the current annual and 24-hour NAAQS for PM2.5 and PM10 should be lowered to protect public health, based on recent scientific studies.
In addition, the policy statement cites several studies demonstrating that ozone may be toxic at concentrations lower than the current 8-hour NAAQS, and suggests that the ozone standards may need to be revised if these studies are confirmed.
The Statement makes further specific recommendations on need to set air quality standards with a margin of safety to protect against the potential effects of air pollution on the fetus, infant, and child.
Additional recommendations address the need for specific control strategies to reduce children’s exposure to criteria air pollutants and toxic air pollutants, specifically mercury and diesel.
The policy statement, “Ambient Air Pollution: Health Hazards to Children” is available online.
In an accompanying article, Dr. Michael W. Shannon, the chair of the AAP Committee on Environmental Health states: “The revised standards [1997 NAAQS for ozone and PM] will protect children better than the previous standards but they still won’t be adequate.”
Committee on Environmental Health, American Academy of Pediatrics. Ambient Air Pollution: Health Hazards to Children. Pediatrics 2004;114:1699-1707.
