By Amy Norton NEW YORK | Fri Feb 3, 2012 5:28pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Traffic pollution may cost two California cities millions each year in managing children’s asthma, a new study suggests. The findings suggest that “the real costs of this pollution are substantial,” said lead researcher Sylvia J. Brandt, of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Similar cost studies could be done in other U.S. communities, Brandt told Reuters Health. Researchers estimate that the annual cost of traffic-related asthma symptoms in the two cities — Long Beach and Riverside — totals about $18 million. That’s considering the direct costs of medical care, as well as indirect expenses like kids’ school absences and parents’ time off from work. The figure is an estimate, based on government cost data and past research on the number of childhood asthma cases linked to traffic pollution. And other communities’ costs would vary widely depending on, among other things, the amount of traffic near homes and schools. As an example, Brandt said that dozens of communities in Massachusetts have higher asthma rates than those seen in the two California cities — where an estimated 13 percent to 15 percent of kids younger than 18 have asthma. Springfield, for one, has an asthma prevalence of 18 percent, and it’s surrounded by major highways, she noted. Nationally, it’s estimated that 9 percent of U.S. children have asthma. But rates are higher among poor, minority kids; 16 percent of low-income black children have asthma, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are a number of risk factors for asthma, including genetic vulnerability. But, Brandt pointed out, there’s growing evidence that traffic pollution may not only trigger symptoms in kids who already have asthma, but may also boost the odds of developing asthma. A number of studies have found that the closer a child lives to heavily traveled roads, the higher the asthma risk — even when controlling for other factors like family income. COULD NEW ZONING HELP? For the current study, reported in the European Respiratory Journal, Brandt’s team used estimates from an earlier study that linked road traffic to 9 percent of all childhood asthma cases in Long Beach and 6 percent in Riverside. They calculated that over a year, the costs of asthma caused by road pollution, and asthma attacks triggered by pollution, would reach about $18 million for the two communities. Brandt acknowledged that there is “uncertainty” in estimating such costs. But she said that it would be useful for communities to have an idea of their own figures so they can see where their money is being spent, and how it could be better used. Based on her team’s estimates, Riverside spends 6 percent of the county’s health-and-welfare budget on pollution-related asthma; the costs in Long Beach, meanwhile, equal about 21 percent of the city’s health department spending. “The findings are at least suggestive that other communities could have high costs as well,” Brandt said. Cities and towns with pollution issues could take steps to cut children’s risk of breathing problems, Brandt said — like passing laws against building schools or residential developments close to highways. And in schools that are already near high-traffic roadways, she added, “clean air” technologies might help. SOURCE: bit.ly/z3UtTs European Respiratory Journal, online January 20, 2012. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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1 of 2. Susan G. Komen for the Cure founder Nancy Brinker makes an address aired on the organization’s website on February 1, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Susan G. Komen for the Cure By David Morgan and Anna Yukhananov WASHINGTON | Fri Feb 3, 2012 5:02pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation backed down from its decision to cut funding for Planned Parenthood, which provides abortion and birth control services, following a massive outcry by supporters of the world’s largest breast cancer charity. Komen’s decision had thrust the group into America’s deeply politicized debate over abortion rights and its apology on Friday may not satisfy the more vocal advocates on either side. Planned Parenthood supporters, including local directors within Komen’s ranks, say Komen had come under pressure from anti-abortion activists. Social conservatives had lauded the move to disengage from Planned Parenthood and said it would win Komen new supporters. “We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives,” Komen said in a statement on Friday signed by its board of directors and its founder Nancy Brinker. Komen had said earlier this week it would cease to fund grants for breast cancer screening to Planned Parenthood under new rules to tighten eligibility. The guidelines excluded groups under investigation by U.S. authorities and Planned Parenthood is the subject of a probe by U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns, a Republican from Florida who opposes abortion. Planned Parenthood provides a variety of services – including reproductive healthcare, sex education, cancer screenings and information on sexually transmitted diseases – but its abortion role has put it at the forefront of the national debate. Komen’s move prompted a protest campaign on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook that reached a fever pitch on Thursday. Local Komen chapters sent letters to headquarters opposing the move, and by late Thursday night, its board convened a special meeting. Komen said it will now amend its new funding criteria to “ensure that politics has no place in our grant process.” The guidelines will make clear that a group under investigation will be disqualified only if the probe is “criminal and conclusive in nature and not political.” “We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities.” Planned Parenthood said it was “enormously grateful” that Komen amended its funding rules. HISTORY OF WORKING TOGETHER “I really take them at their word that this is behind us,” Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards told reporters. She pointed to the strong ties between both organizations at the community level “where we work together to provide services and care for women who have nowhere else to turn.” Komen grants to Planned Parenthood amount to about $700,000 annually and have helped fund 170,000 clinical breast exams and more than 6,400 mammogram referrals in the past five years, mostly to poor women. Richards said the public support this week led to nearly $3 million in new donations for its national breast health fund. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg pledged $250,000, while cycling champion Lance Armstrong’s cancer foundation LiveStrong said on Friday it was donating $100,000. Brinker founded the Komen foundation, known for its pink ribbon symbol and Race for the Cure fundraisers, after the death of her sister, Susan Komen, of breast cancer in 1980. The organization has collected more than $1.9 billion for breast cancer research and programs and has affiliates in more than 100 U.S. cities and 50 countries. Komen officials insisted the organization had not taken a political turn by changing its grant guidelines. Board member John Raffaelli described the initial Planned Parenthood decision as a misunderstanding of its own funding policy. “It didn’t come out very clearly,” Raffaelli told Reuters. “It got screwed up.” But activists on both sides of the debate cited signs of a change in outlook from the group, and attributed some of it to pressure from anti-abortion activists. Brinker, who served as ambassador to Hungary under President George W. Bush, had appointed Republican Karen Handel to a senior policy role inside the group last year. Handel had run for Georgia governor on a platform that called for defunding Planned Parenthood. DISAPPOINTMENT OVER REVERSAL Komen faces additional fallout from the crisis, as social conservatives expressed deep disappointment over the group’s about-face. Representative Kevin Brady, a member of the House Republican leadership team, said it was “really unfortunate” that Komen reversed its decision. “To be giving grants to an organization that effectively ends so many lives — (it) just seems to me they made the right decision before and they’re making the wrong decision now,” Brady told Reuters. Stearns pledged to continue the investigation into Planned Parenthood’s use of taxpayer funds and said the group’s latest fundraising shows “it does not need the Komen funding.” Local Komen affiliates contacted by Reuters said they had no input into the decision to cut funding for Planned Parenthood on the national level, and many opposed it, whether openly or through private letters to the headquarters. “We sent official letters to the headquarters,” said Nancy Healey, executive director of the Komen chapter in central and southern New Jersey. “Komen is a grassroots organization. The displeasure and the outrage was heard and the decision was reversed. I’m thrilled.” Anne Morris, executive director of Komen Connecticut, had publicly refused to pull her affiliate’s funding for Planned Parenthood. Morris said she continued speaking with the local Planned Parenthood daily through the week. “Our supporters knew that we weren’t supporting that (the national decision),” she said. “Our donors and people participating in Race for the Cure really applauded us for that.” (Additional reporting by Richard Cowan and Donna Smith in Washington; Writing by Michele Gershberg; Editing by Jackie Frank and Bill Trott) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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