NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – In children withasthma, a breath test can measure the effects of exposure to urbanair pollution, according to a new study.

The test measures levels of a compound called malondialdehyde inexhaled breath. The researchers found that malondialdehyde levelsare related to both pollutant exposure and to nasal secretion ofinflammatory compounds.

The team, led by Dr. Isabelle Romieu of the Instituto Nacionalde Salud Publica, Cuernavaca in Mexico, recruited 107 children withasthma who lived in two areas of Mexico City with high populationand traffic densities. A total of 480 random breath samples (fourto eight per child) were collected over a 10-month period.

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