| Mexico City, 10/11/2003 – A new study released today by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) suggests that children in the border town of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, are being hospitalized and dying because of air pollution at levels that are below Mexico's current health standards.
Between 1997 and 2001, respiratory distress led to 36,087 emergency visits by children less than five years age at two Ciudad Juárez hospitals. But Mexico's health standard for ozone, which mandates the government take action to improve air quality, was only exceeded 14 times.
"Children were being rushed to the hospital on days when no air quality alarms were sounding," says Dr. Matiana Ramírez Aguilar, a co-investigator in the study from the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico City. "This suggests that lower levels of ozone affect children's respiratory health and that action should be taken to revise Mexico's standards."
The study also found "significant associations" between particulate matter (PM10)—small particles in the air emitted from such sources as diesel trucks—and child mortality. Of the 696 children aged one month to one year who died during the study's five-year period, 231 deaths were related to respiratory illness. Ambient PM10 levels exceeded the norm only on a few occasions.
The researchers also indicated that children living in poor neighborhoods were at greatest risk. When levels of PM10 were elevated for two consecutive days, respiratory deaths among infants between a month and a year old in lower income families increased by 82 percent in the following days. But youngsters of higher socio-economic status suffered no similar increase in mortality.
It's the first time a study has measured air pollution impacts on children living in poor conditions along the Mexico-US border.
"Particulate matter appears to have an adverse effect on young children that are already susceptible because of their reduced capacity to metabolize toxic substances. They're also at higher risk because of social vulnerabilities related to poverty, malnutrition and poor environment," says Ramírez. "Ozone, on the other hand, seems to act as an irritant among all children, and children with asthma."
The NAFTA has led to an increase in truck traffic at border points in Mexico, Canada and the United States. For residents of Ciudad Juárez, this means increased exposure to the pollution emitted from cars and trucks moving between Mexico and the United States. In 2001, more than one million trucks crossed the border between Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, Texas.
Taking this exposure into account, a follow-up study in Ciudad Juárez measured air pollution from 28 school rooftops near busy highways and border-traffic areas in the region, with field researchers testing the breath flow of 101 students.
Dr. Fernando Holguin, researcher at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, says, "Preliminary results suggest that in asthmatic children attending schools that are in close proximity to major roads, traffic density is associated with increased airway inflammation."
Paul Miller, program coordinator for air quality at the CEC, concludes, "These results are not unique to Ciudad Juárez. Similar or even higher air pollution levels exist at other crossings along the Mexico-US and Canada-US borders. But the Ciudad Juárez study is an important example because three jurisdictions—the states of Chihuahua, New Mexico and Texas—share the same air. Solutions to the area's problems will have to come from cooperative efforts among federal, state, local and industry officials."
The CEC was established by Canada, Mexico and the United States to build cooperation among the three partners in implementing NAFTA's environmental accord. The CEC addresses environmental issues of continental concern, with particular attention to the environmental challenges and opportunities presented by continent-wide free trade. | 
