The Region : Smog Worst for Children, Study Finds

Children are not only more susceptible to air pollution, they also get larger doses of pollutants than do adults, according to researchers at the University of California, Irvine. Robert Phalen, director of the UC Irvine Air Pollution Health Effects Laboratory, said a two-year study concluded, on the basis of computer modeling, that children may take in as much as six times more airborne pollutants than adults exposed for the same period of time. This, he said, suggests that infants face the most serious health risk. He explained that children actually breathe more air per unit of body weight than adults to maintain body temperature and metabolic rates--thus increasing exposure.