Smog and nitrogen dioxide cause asthma in two million children worldwide

The number of cases decreased between 2000 and 2019 The researchers also monitored new cases of asthma that developed in children from 2000 to 2019: the results showed that an estimated 1.85 million new pediatric asthma cases were attributed to NO2 in the world in 2019. Two-thirds of them are in urban areas.

Positive effects of anti-smog measures Monitoring also made it possible to verify the positive effects of recent measures implemented by some countries to reduce urban air pollution, with the proportion of pediatric asthma cases related to NO2 dropping from 20% in 2000 to 16% in 2019.

However, these improvements affect only Europe and the United States, while in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, the air is still heavily polluted and nitrogen dioxide emissions are on the rise.

Nitrogen dioxide is associated with 13% of asthma cases in children “Our study revealed how nitrogen dioxide puts children at risk for asthma,” says Susan Annenberg, co-author of the study and professor of environmental and occupational health at George Washington University. The findings suggest that air hygiene should be an essential part of strategies to keep children healthy. . A previous study by George Washington researchers found that NO2 is linked to about 13 percent of asthma cases in children worldwide and up to 50 percent of those in 250 populated cities.