Exposure shortly after birth to ambient metals from residential heating oil combustion and particles from diesel emissions is associated with respiratory symptoms in young children living in urban areas, according to a new study by researchers at the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH) at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. The study is the first to analyze the effects of exposure to airborne metals in this very young population and the findings could have serious public health implications. The study compared pollutant levels with respiratory symptoms of children between birth and age two living in Northern Manhattan and in the South Bronx, and found that the airborne metals were risk factors for wheezing in young children. The study is published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. To read the study, please visit: http://www.ccceh.org/pdf-papers/Patel2009.pdf