Air Pollution Directly Linked to Ear Infections, Study Finds

It’s easy to see why smog and other types of air pollution can lead to difficulty breathing and other respiratory disorders, but a new study finds a direct link between dirty air and children’s ear infections.

The research from Mattel Children’s Hospital University of California, Los Angeles, and of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA was based on a review of data gathered on more than 120,000 kids from 1997 to 2006, according to a UPI news report.

Researchers looked at how many of the children had three or more ear infections in a year and compared it to statistics on how many had respiratory allergies. The results were then cross-referenced to air-quality data from the Environmental Protection Agency, which measures pollutants including carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, sulfur dioxide, and tiny particulate matter.

They found that as overall air quality has improved across the U.S., the number of ear infections in children has significantly decreased.

“We believe these findings, which demonstrate a direct correlation between air quality and ear infections, have both medical and political significance,” the researchers said in a statement, according to UPI.

The research findings are published in Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery, UPI reports.

AUTHOR: tgrenda