UCI studies delve into air pollution causes

Briefly In The News

By Todd Karella TIMES STAFF WRITER

August 22, 2002

UC Irvine is studying the cause and effects of air pollution and has several research projects underway on the issue.

Large Scale Forest Fires is one such project designed to study how forest fires create large concentrations of ozone with effects that can range from eye irritation to the worsening of preexisting lung conditions like asthma.

Also looking into chronic lung disease and the effects of pollution is a project on freeway exhaust, which uses mice previously exposed to asthma-like allergens and placing them at varying distances from congested freeway interchanges.

Dust is another pollutant that can add to global warming and causes environmental problems. With the expansion of the world's deserts and the recent dust storms in China's Gobi Desert, dust has become an ever-growing concern, researchers say.

While everyone is affected by air pollution, scientists are studying whether children face even greater risks. Because they breathe in more air per pound than adults and their airways are more efficient in trapping pollutants, children can be affected nine times more than adults, said Robert Phalen, director of UCI's Air Pollution Health Effects Laboratory, in a press release.