air pollution

Smog-covered mountains, gritty sidewalks, smelly fumes from traffic-choked freeways. The Los Angeles area was a tough place to breathe several decades ago. Now a study shows how much that has changed, especially for the region's youngest residents. Children in recent years breathed cleaner air and had stronger lungs compared to those who were studied two decades earlier, researchers found. The improved health coincided with drastic reductions in pollution in the Los Angeles basin and surrounding areas as air quality regulators cracked down on emissions from tailpipes and smokestacks. While the research focused on smog check inspection in Southern California, the results suggest that other cities with dirty air may see a health boost with a cleanup effort. Since pollutants such as particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide tend to be higher in cities, reducing "those pollutants should lead to improved health for children living in any urban environment," said lead researcher Jim …