Tree-lined streets may cut city kids’ asthma risk (Reuters) Posted on May 10th
Asthma rates have risen sharply in the US since 1980, and
inner cities have been hit particularly hard, Lovasi and her
colleagues note in their report. Trees could cut asthma risk by
cleaning the air and encouraging kids to play outdoors, they
add; but the pollen they release could also contribute to
asthma attacks. To investigate, the researchers compared a
census of New York City’s half-million street trees from 1995
to statistics on asthma prevalence and hospitalization rates
for 1999.