Tree-lined neighbourhood may help in reducing asthma risk

Started experiencing breathing problems due to excessive pollution in the air surrounding your home? It is time to shift your abode to a neighbourhood with more green spaces.

People living in polluted urban areas are less likely to develop breathing problems, such as asthma, when there are lots of trees in their neighbourhood, a new study has found.

The study implicated that respiratory health can be improved by the expansion of tree cover in very polluted urban neighbourhoods.

The study, published in the journal Environment International, stated that in urban areas, with a high level of air pollution, can see 50 fewer emergency asthma cases per 100,000 residents if 300 extra trees were planted per sq.km.

At the same time, tree planting could also play a major role in reducing the effects of air pollution from the cars.

"We wanted to clarify how urban vegetation may be related to respiratory health. We know that trees remove the air pollutants which can bring on asthma attacks," said Ian Alcock, researcher at the University of Exeter in Devon.

"Green spaces and gardens were associated with reductions in asthma hospitalisation at lower pollutant levels, but not in the most polluted urban areas. Trees can effectively remove pollutants from the air, and this may explain why they appear to be most beneficial where concentrations are high," Alcock added.

The research team looked at more than 650,000 serious asthma attacks over a period of 15 years.

They compared the emergency hospitalisations in regards to asthma cases over 26,000 urban neighbourhoods for the study.

The results found that in the most polluted urban areas, trees had a particularly strong association with fewer emergency asthma cases.

--IANS

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