The Geography of Air Pollution: Where are Pregnant Women and their Children at Risk?
Winter 2010 Oppenheim Lecture with Beate Ritz, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chair, UCLA Department of Epidemiology and John Balmes, M.D., Professor of Medicine, U.C. San Francisco
About the Lecture
A growing body of research has shown that local sources of air pollution can have adverse health effects on people who live or work near these sources—effects that go beyond the ambient regional pollution exposures. The same research also shows that these localized pollution sources have a disproportionate effect on vulnerable populations like pregnant women and babies, particularly in low income communities.
This lecture addresses both the science of localized air pollution on community health and what is being done, and should be done, about these risks. Ritz discusses the findings of her recent research, “Air Pollution Impacts on Pregnant Women, Infants and Children”, about the additional health risk for pregnant women and their children who live close to high traffic arterial streets. Dr. Balmes presents current federal and state initiatives to address the health impacts of traffic pollution and his ideas, as a scientist and a state regulator, about how new policies should be developed to better protect communities from the health effects of local pollution.
The Science: Air Pollution Impacts on Infants and Children with Beate Ritz
Policy: Approaches to Protect Communities from the Local Effects of Air Pollution with John Balmes
- View Dr. Ritz's PowerPoint presentation from the lecture
- View Dr. Balmes' PowerPoint presentation from the lecture
Duration: 1:30:39
Learn more about the Oppenheim Lecture Series
UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
Published: Wednesday, January 20, 2010
