Are there many places "within the isthmas" where children could reside
other than 300 feet from--"cars, buses and lorries?"
EW
Schimpff, Jeff A - DNR wrote:
>
>
> If they are successful in curbing car use the Chinese will also be
> taking a step toward saving a lot of yuan on health care and lost
> time in school, as well as reducing traffic congestion.
>
>
> It's important to keep in mind that China is now a curious mix of
> free-market capitalism and state control. The current extremely
> severe environmental health problems there stem as much or more from
> the excesses of "the market" as they do from the post-Mao control
> freaks trying to run the show.
>
>
> It will be a long time before that nation ever regains the sanity of
> bike-culture domination.
>
>
> Traffic fumes increase the risks of child pneumonia
>
> Top consultant announces breakthrough study
>
> * * Denis Campbell *
> <http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/deniscampbell>, health
> correspondent
> * The Observer <http://observer.guardian.co.uk/>, Sunday 24
> January 2010
> * Article history
>
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/jan/24/traffic-pollution-child-pneumonia#history-link-box>
>
> Children who live near a main road are in greater danger of catching
> pneumonia <http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/pneumonia> because
> pollution <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/pollution> from
> passing traffic damages their lungs. A leading expert in childhood
> breathing difficulties has made the link between exposure to particles
> from vehicle exhausts and a child's susceptibility to the chest
> infection, which can be fatal.
>
> Professor Jonathan Grigg, an honorary consultant at the Royal London
> Hospital and academic paediatrician at Queen Mary, University of
> London, made the breakthrough after studying the effect of airborne
> pollutants on human lung cells. Children whose home is within 100
> metres of a main road could be as much as 65% more likely than others
> to develop pneumonia, he said.
>
> Although the disease is usually associated with the elderly, it is a
> significant childhood illness. Every year about 20,000 children and
> young people under 18 end up in hospital after contracting the
> condition. It can also be fatal. Between 2004 and 2008, it killed
> between 60 and 77 patients aged under 20 annually, of whom between 38
> and 52 were under the age of five, according to data from the Office
> of National Statistics.
>
> Children under 12 months are the most likely to die. Of the 76 young
> people under 20 who died in 2008, 29 had not reached their first
> birthday – 20 boys and nine girls – and 23 others were between one and
> four.
>
> Grigg took contaminated air particles collected as part of Leicester
> city council's air-quality monitoring system and recreated their
> impact in a laboratory. He then added bacteria that would cause
> pneumonia in a human and assessed how many were sticking to the
> surface of the cells and getting inside them. In normal lungs a few
> bacteria do that, but in the lung cells that had been artificially
> exposed to pollution three to four times more did so.
>
> "These findings strongly suggest that particles pollution is a major
> factor in making children vulnerable to pneumonia. We've shown a very
> firm link between the two. The study raises strong suspicions that
> particles cause pneumonia in children," said Grigg. "This is
> significant because pneumonia causes many admissions of previously
> healthy children to hospital." Some children with the disease spend
> several weeks in intensive care.
>
> Previous studies have blamed proximity to a main road for children
> having higher rates of asthma, wheezing, coughs, ear, nose and throat
> infections, and food allergies.
>
> A study this month by the Boston-based Health Effects Institute
> claimed that toxic emissions from vehicles can speed up hardening of
> the arteries, as well as impairing lung function.
>
> "Strong evidence" suggested that being exposed to traffic fumes can
> lead to variations in heart rate and other potentially fatal heart
> complaints, the study said.
>
> Exposure to the burning of wood or coal, or to tobacco smoke, can also
> increase a child's chances of pneumonia. One study found that
> secondhand smoke was to blame for 28.7% of all children under five in
> Vietnam who were admitted to hospital with the condition.
>
> Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said: "We
> have known for some time that pollution causes chest problems, such as
> asthma, in both children and adults. This new research adds to the
> weight of evidence about the problems of air pollution, especially
> [from] cars, buses and lorries."
>
> Childhood pneumonia was important because it often led to admission to
> hospital, costing the NHS hundreds of pounds per bed per day.
>
> The research underlined the need for Britain to move towards greener
> forms of transport in order to protect public health from traffic
> fumes, he suggested.
>
> Jeff Schimpff
> Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
> Madison, WI
> 608-267-7853
> "Bus, Bike, Carpool to Work for Clean Air for Kids"
>
> "Pedestrians and cyclists are the indicator species of a healthier
> community"
>
>
> *From:* [email protected]
> [mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of *john wagnitz
> *Sent:* Friday, February 12, 2010 9:30 AM
> *To:* [email protected]
> *Subject:* [Bikies] Sometimes it’s best to leave well enough alone
>
> After decades of destruction (tearing down centuries old
> neighborhoods, and banning bicycles) to accommodate the new
> national obsession, the Chinese are now trying to put that genie
> back in the bottle.
> Hopefully, government "planning" can work the other way.
> " Municipal officials want to boost the number of cyclists by 25%
> during the next five-year plan, state media reported today. Twenty
> years ago, four out of five residents in the Chinese capital
> pedaled to work through one of the world's best systems of bicycle
> lanes. But the modern passion for cars has made two-wheeled
> transport so treacherous, dirty and unfashionable that barely a
> fifth of the population dares to use lanes that are now routinely
> blocked by parked cars and invaded by vehicles attempting to
> escape from the jams on the main roads."
>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/24/beijing-cycling-capital-plans
>
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/24/beijing-cycling-capital-plans>
>
>
> --- On *Tue, 2/9/10, [email protected]
> /<[email protected]>/* wrote:
>
>
>
> QUOTATION OF THE MONTH >>
> ____________________________________
>
> "When I started driving 10 years ago, it was something special
> because not many
> people had cars then, but now everyone has one and the traffic
> is terrible."
>
> Chen Ying, language teacher in Beijing
> ___________________________________
>
> IN THE NEWS >>
> ____________________________________
>
> - Campaign to boost cycling in Beijing
> The politicians of Beijing has promised to regain the city's
> reputation as the
> "Kingdom of Bicycles". Twenty years ago, four out of five
> residents in the
> Chinese capital pedalled to work through one of the world's
> best systems of
> bicycle lanes. But those were the days, today the traffic
> situation in Beijing
> is characterized by congestion and pollution problems...
> http://tinyurl.com/ydg67uo
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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>
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