Well yes, easy access but not so great for your children’s health. Research studies have shown that environmental pollution, like exhaust particles, can leave school age children more susceptible to respiratory illnesses.

“This is a major public health concern that should be given serious consideration in future urban development, transportation planning and environmental policies,” says Sergey Grinshpun, PhD, principal investigator of the study and professor of environmental health at UC. To protect the health of young children with developing lungs, he says new schools should be built further from major highways.

This research examined 8000 schools serving 6 million school age children across the country, in Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati, Denver, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Memphis, Minneapolis and San Antonio and indicates that the problem is far more widespread than was previously thought. Asthma is at epidemic levels in this country and part of the reason, especially for children is homes and schools built in increasing proximity to highways.

Close to 6.3 million children in the U.S. under 18 currently have asthma!

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If this provision never becomes law, then those of you who may someday become victims of lung disease, will have to do without rehab when you reach Medicare age.

Congress overwhelmingly approved the Pulmonary and Cardiac Rehabilitation Act, which, among other things, would make life easier for Americans who suffer from lung disease.  This, you say, may not tie into environmentalism, but think again; coal smoke, smoking, second-hand smoke, pollutants in the air, all add to lung disease, and heaven knows we’ve had a century of air pollution pouring into our lungs.  It isn’t over yet.

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