[Air pollution and the juvenile lungs].

The present overview summarizes data from the literature dealing with effects of air pollution on lung health in children. Special care was taken to critically review manuscripts which were published in peer reviewed international journals. In doing so, one realizes that the degree of air pollution is closely related to pulmonary problems of children. However, since single peak loads of polluted air might not be a sufficient indicator for long-term effects of contaminated air on human health, special care has to be taken to search for connections between air toxicity and data of epidemiology, physiology, and pathophysiology.