Jump to full article: Boston (MA) Herald, 2010-01-31
Author: Jessica Fargen General Assignment Reporter
Intro: The high rate of asthma typically found in kids in housing projects is among the factors spurring Boston to ban smoking in public housing.
"You have young children who are living in households with smokers and have asthma or are at risk of developing asthma," said Doug Brugge, a professor at Tufts School of Medicine and author of a 2003 study of Dorchester and South Boston projects that found elevated childhood asthma rates. "Clearly that is not a good thing for those children."
Mold, poor ventiliation and pests also exacerbate asthma, but second-hand smoke is a main contributer, he said.
Meena Carr, 68, who lives in Roslindale's Washington-Beech development, said smoke from other apartments triggered asthma attacks in her grandson, Malik Carr, 9, until she convinced the building to go smoke-free.
"They don't have a choice," she said of children like Malik.
There has been no widescale study of asthma rates of children in Boston public housing, but public-health experts say rates are higher than in the general population.
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