Alumni Dr. George Thurston '73 will present on Asthma and Diesel Air Pollution

Diesel Air Pollution and
Asthma in New York City

Presented by
Dr. George D. Thurston '73
Dept. of Environmental Medicine
NYU School of Medicine
Nelson Institute of
Environmental Medicine

Friday, October 2, 2009
12:00 PM
Barus & Holley
Room 190
Brown University
182 Hope Street
Providence, RI

Presented by the Superfund Research Program - www.brown.edu/sbrp

Childhood asthma is at near epidemic proportions in parts of New York City, affecting as many as one quarter of all elementary aged children in certain under-served minority neighborhoods of the city. There is also an increasing body of evidence indicating that living near to traffic is associated with increased respiratory problems in children. Exposure to fine particles from diesel vehicles is suspected as a likely causal agent in these associations between traffic and asthma, but there is only limited information relating personal exposures to diesel particles and health for individual children. This seminar introduces both the asthma problem in New York City and the recent evidence regarding asthma and diesel air pollution, and then presents recent in-press results of a study conducted by NYU in the South Bronx that has directly tested the relationship between childhood asthma symptoms and personal exposures to diesel particles. Options available to control diesel emissions in New York City and elsewhere are also discussed.