For the week ending June 9, 2007

EPA Cannot Weaken Ozone Limits, Federal Appeals Court Rules

The Environmental Protection Agency and industrial petitioners lost an appeal today that would allow factories and power plants to release higher levels of pollutants that cause ground-level ozone, or smog.

In 2006, this federal court ruled the EPA violated the Clean Air Act of 1990 by attempting to relax ozone standards, and the EPA and industry asked for a rehearing of that decision in March.

The eastern U.S. has an enormous problem with smog pollution, the American Lung Association noted in its State of the Air 2007 report. (For more information about this report, see the link below.) High levels of smog cause breathing problems for asthmatics and patients with other respiratory illness.


Immune Response in the Womb Holds Possible Implications for Asthma Research

Some scientists have long questioned whether babies exposed to allergens in utero have a higher chance of developing asthma in childhood. However, they lacked data showing the fetal immune system could mount an allergic response at all.

Columbia University researchers recently discovered antigen-specific T cells�evidence of an immune response to a particular allergen�in cord blood taken from pregnant women after flu vaccinations.

While the results do not necessarily support the hypothesis that asthma can have its roots in neonatal allergen exposure, they allow scientists to investigate this line of research further.

(From the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Researchers: Deepa Rastogi, Chaodong Wang, Xia Mao, Cynthia Lendor, Paul B. Rothman, and Rachel L. Miller)



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"Smile, breathe and go slowly." -Thich Nhat Hanh



This article is not written by a medical professional, and information on this page should never be substituted for your physcian's advice. If you have any questions about your asthma and/or allergies, you should always contact your physician first.