Bad city air boosts kids' risk of cancer
By Rivka Bukowsky and Paul H.B. Shin
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Toxics spewed from tailpipes and factory smokestacks can damage the genes of fetuses in the womb, raising a child's risk of getting cancer later in life, a new study among New York City newborns shows.
Columbia University researchers tracked 60 pregnant women and measured the amount of pollutants they were exposed to, using backpack air monitors.

When their babies were born, researchers found about 50% more genetic abnormalities in infants whose mothers had higher levels of exposure to toxics caused by burning fuels such as gas and coal, researchers said yesterday.

Though the study was conducted in low-income neighborhoods in Harlem and the Bronx, the findings sent a clear warning for any pregnant woman in a bustling city.

"We already knew that these air pollutants significantly reduce fetal growth, but this is the first time we've seen evidence that they can change the structure of chromosomes in [the womb]," said Dr. Frederica Perera, director of Columbia's Center for Children's Environmental Health.

"These pollutants are very pervasive in the urban environment, so we have no reason to think the results are not relevant to other populations in urban areas," she said.

The sobering study was particularly worrying for people in Harlem and the South Bronx, who already suffer from high childhood asthma rates.

"It's hard to walk down the street and not constantly smell ... fumes from the cars," said Nathania Hall, 33, who lives in Harlem and has a 2-week-old daughter, Francoise. "You're kind of wondering how safe it is for the baby."

Community advocates have long charged that low-income neighborhoods have an unfair share of polluters, such as power plants and bus depots.

Jamila Banks, 24, who lives in the Bronx with her two daughters, Jaela, 4, and Jani, 2, said the latest study is more reason for such communities to fight back. "You can't just put anything and everything in our neighborhoods," Banks said.

The findings, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention, point to the need for stricter government standards for polluters in cities, and not just in low-income areas, Perera said.

Because the study involved only a relatively small number of participants, however, researchers were unable to determine a "safe" exposure level that did not cause damage to chromosomes, which carry a person's genetic code, or DNA.