Asthma and Air Pollution?

I’m about to leave California for a vacation in Hawaii. Maybe I should pack an inhaler!

In a recent Wall Street Journal MarketWatch update, Pennsylvania recently joined a coalition of states and cities, including New York and California, in a lawsuit against the EPA for adopting air pollution standards that do not protect public health. You can spend a lot of interesting time comparing air quality by going here: http://www.epa.gov/aircompare/.

The biggest states (California, New York and Pennsylvania) clearly have the highest rates of carbon monoxide emissions but that doesn’t necessarily correlate to asthma prevalence or asthma deaths. California (with a childhood asthma prevalence of 7.1%) has the highest carbon monoxide emissions in the country, but is not even in the top 10 states with high rates of asthma.

Top 10 US States with high childhood asthma prevalence

1. Massachusetts 12.1%
2. Hawaii 10.9%
3. Oklahoma 10.8%
4. Maryland 10.8%
5. Rhode Island 10.5%
6. Kentucky 10.4%
7. District of Columbia 10.3%
8. Ohio 10.2%
9. New York 10.2%
10. Pennsylvania 9.9%

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad381.pdf

Per the CDC “State of Childhood Asthma, 1980-2005” research article, asthma rates vary widely by race and the disparity in asthma mortality between black and white children has risen in recent years. But states with higher black populations don’t necessarily correlate to higher asthma prevalence or asthma deaths either.

Top 10 US States with high black populations vs childhood asthma prevalence

1. Mississippi 37.1% black vs 8.4% childhood asthma
   
2. Louisiana 31.7% black vs 8.3% childhood asthma
3. Georgia 29.9% black vs 7.9% childhood asthma
4. Maryland 29.5% black vs 10.8% childhood asthma
5. South Carolina 29.0% black vs 8.1% childhood asthma
6. Alabama 26.3% black vs 8.7% childhood asthma
7. North Carolina 21.7% black vs 8.1% childhood asthma
8. Delaware 20.9% black vs 8.8% childhood asthma
9. Virginia 19.9% black vs 8.7% childhood asthma
10. Tennessee 16.9% black vs 7.3% childhood asthma

Source: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/27000.html

Interestingly, the U.S. state with the highest death rate from asthma (2.0 per 100,000 2002-2004) and the 2^nd highest childhood asthma prevalence rate is Hawaii, which has relatively low air pollution. And the 2^nd highest country for asthma deaths in the world is New Zealand (behind the UK). http://www.asthmanz.co.nz/in_new_zealand.php