Going by the findings of a new study by the researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, air pollution, which has been long considered a factor responsible for aggravating inflammation in asthmatic patients, brings about a significant reduction in the effectiveness of asthma drugs and rescue inhalers.

The study, published in the Chest, certain air pollutants, like nitrogen dioxide and ozone, not only lower the efficacy of inhalers that bring quick relief to asthma patients, but also lowers the responsiveness of children to asthma medication.

For the study, the researchers observed the impact of outdoor air pollution on 85 asthmatic children, between 7 and 12 years of age – while 53 children were suffering from mild intermittent asthma, 20 had mild persistent asthma, and 12 had moderate persistent asthma. All the children resided in Mexico City, which has very high levels of air pollution.

The researchers found that in the presence of air pollutants like nitrogen dioxide and ozone, the children did not respond well to the otherwise-properly-functioning rescue inhalers and asthma drugs. Moreover, the researchers also found that with an addition of 10 parts-per-billion in nitrogen dioxide levels in the air, the efficacy of rescue inhaler dropped by almost 15 percent.

However, irrespective of the findings, the researchers claimed that inhaled steroids still remained an effective means to limit the damaging effects of the air pollution.