Another Reason to Keep Kids Away from Traffic: Cancer

"Researchers have already uncovered worrying signs that exposure to traffic – and the vehicle emissions that come with it – can increase a child’s risk of developing asthma and autism. Now comes evidence that it may make children more susceptible to certain kinds of cancers," reports Karen Kaplan.

By comparing the California Department of Transportation’s computer models of traffic-related air pollution and the California Cancer Registry, researchers from UCLA, USC and UC Irvine found that "the more pollution in a place, the higher the incidence of certain kinds of childhood cancers," says Kaplan. "These included acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of blood cancer in which the bone marrow overproduces a type of immature white blood cell called a lymphocyte; tumors in the ovaries, testicles and other reproductive organs; and retinoblastoma, an eye cancer that affects the retina and usually develops in children before they turn 5 years old."