Children's Health - Air Pollution Study

This study arose from the scientific needs of the Ambient Air Quality NEPM review of the Australian air quality standards. Results are critical for two stages of the reveiw, specifically:

• informing whether the current air quality standards adequately protect the health of Australian children from the effects of air pollution; and
• to provide quantitative information to inform any amendment of the current standards.

The primary purpose of the project was to obtain quantitative effect estimates for the association between the criteria air pollutants* contained in the Ambient Air Quality NEPM  and adverse health outcomes such as increases in respiratory symptoms (for example cough and wheeze) and decreases in lung function in school-aged children across Australia.

The study is examining both cumulative effects in a representative sample of children and day-to-day effects of air pollution in a sub-sample of children with asthma. The study report is expected in April 2011.

 *The criteria pollutants are: ozone, particulates as PM10 and PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide.