Study in Fresno finds air pollution breathed by young children could harm their health as adults

Research on air breathed by Fresno 6-to-8-year-olds, most of them Hispanic, concluded that the impact of air pollution on children could contribute to higher rates of heart disease and other ailments in adulthood.

The study by Stanford University and published in Nature Scientific Reports is the first to examine air pollution’s effects at the single-cell level while focusing on both the cardiovascular and immune systems in children. It confirms previous research that bad air can alter gene regulation in a way that may impact long-term health, according to a Stanford News.

“It looks like even brief air pollution exposure can actually change the regulation and expression of children’s genes and perhaps alter blood pressure, potentially laying the foundation for increased risk of disease later in life,” said Mary Prunicki, director of air pollution and health research at Stanford’s Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy & Asthma Research.

Among the findings, the researchers found that air pollution exposure correlates with an increase in monocytes, white blood cells that play a key role in the buildup of plaques in arteries, and could possibly predispose children to heart disease in adulthood.

Hispanic children bear a disproportionate number of health ailments compared with other children, especially in California, where they are exposed to high traffic-related pollution levels. Hispanic adults have higher prevalence for uncontrolled hypertension. Future studies are needed to verify the long-term implications of the latest research.

Fresno experiences some of the nation’s highest air pollution levels due to agriculture, industry and wildfires.