"EPA Science Adviser Defends Comment On Dirty Air Helping Kids"

"Robert Phalen, an air pollution researcher just named to a key U.S. EPA advisory committee, is defending earlier comments that the air can be 'a little too clean' for children's health as grounded in the broader field of pulmonary medicine.

'The children raised on farms and with pets have lower asthma rates due to the [setting] of lifelong respiratory tract defenses early in their lives,' Phalen said an emailed statement to E&E News late yesterday in response to a request for comment sent Friday.

'Importantly,' he said, 'as particulate air pollution levels have declined in the US, asthma rates have increased.'"

Sean Reilly reports for Greenwire November 6, 2017.

SEE ALSO:

"EPA, Pruitt May Face Lawsuits Over Advisory Board Changes" (The Hill)

"Scott Pruitt’s Plot to Sabotage Science at the EPA" (New Republic)

"Government Scientist Blocked from Talking About Climate and Wildfires" (ClimateWire)