USC, UCLA to Study Environmental Health Threats to Children

Vice President Gore will announce at the White House today that USC and UCLA will join seven other research centers in receiving federal grants to study environmental health threats facing children, administration officials said.

The Centers of Excellence in Children’s Environmental Health Research will address two primary areas--the causes of asthma and the effects of pesticide exposure.

The aim is to better understand the links between rising asthma rates among children and smog, secondhand tobacco smoke and other pollutants. In addition, researchers will examine children’s vulnerabilities to pesticides, which can hamper the kidneys and the central nervous system and thwart intellectual development.

With the help of a grant of about $1 million annually over five years, the medical schools at USC and UCLA will study secondhand tobacco smoke, air pollution and indoor allergens that range from dust mites to cockroaches. The two schools will share the money, with USC leading the effort.

“Our children are our most precious resource, and we must do all we can to provide them with a safe, healthy environment,” Gore said in a statement to be released today. “These new research centers will ensure that our efforts to prevent asthma and protect children against pesticides and other environmental hazards are guided by the best possible science.”

Each center will work with community groups to apply scientific findings. In Los Angeles, researchers will team up with Mothers of East Los Angeles, Concerned Citizens for South-Central Los Angeles, Communities for a Better Environment and the Los Angeles chapter of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation. The goal is to reduce the number of cockroaches and other possible irritants in children’s homes.

“Children are a susceptible group and there are gaps in our scientific information,” said Dr. Henry Gong Jr., a professor of medicine at USC who will oversee the project.

Administration officials said recent reports have found sharp rises in childhood asthma in recent years. Among children under 5, the rate increased 160% from 1980 to 1994, making asthma the No. 1 cause nationally for childhood hospitalization, officials said.

Children react to many environmental threats more acutely than adults for a variety of reasons. Their systems are more vulnerable, they are more likely to play close to the ground and, proportionate to their size, they consume more air, water and food than adults.

Last year, President Clinton issued an executive order making children’s health a priority for the federal government and calling for improved research. In response, the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Health and Human Services allocated $10.6 million for the eight centers.

The other institutions receiving grants include the University of Michigan School of Public Health, which will study pediatric asthma; the University of Iowa College of Medicine, which will focus on respiratory illnesses among rural children; and the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, which will evaluate the impact of pesticide exposure on children’s growth and development.