Illegal Drug Use Might Contribute To High Asthma Rates In Poor Neighborhoods

Diesel Fuel News, Sept 17, 2001

Some health studies see an association between heavy traffic pollution in poor neighborhoods and abnormally high asthma rates. But researchers also should consider other factors, like high rates of illegal drug use in such neighborhoods, California Trucking Associations VP Stephanie Williams charged here.

"You should look at crack and methamphetamine use and its relation to asthma in low-income areas," she said in response to advocacy group claims that diesel PM deserves much of the "environmental justice" blame for asthma problems. Other asthma-increase theories postulated here include ambient platinum rise (caused by particle attrition from gasoline three-way catalysts) coincident with the trend of rising asthma cases over the last 25 years. Increasing dieselization of truck fleets over the last 40 years might also play some role, but the fact is that nobody knows what causes asthma, although air pollution can aggravate symptoms. Whether diesel PM really makes people more sensitive to other precursors of as thma attacks is also -- despite experiments -- not yet scientifically proven.