Last June my son developed a nasty habit of gasping for air with a hiccup sound. Every morning when he woke up, this nasty habit would disappear, but as soon as he arrived home from school, it would start. When school ended and summer began, this habit seemed to magically disappear. My asthmatic mother said it sounded like asthma. Needless to say, I took my son to the doctor.

The doctor informed me that not only did my son have activity-induced asthma, but a heavy coat of smog was intensifying it. I was advised to keep my son from running around in 90-plus-degree temperatures, from playing outside when the smog was visibly heavy and to make sure that he took his medicine 20 minutes before going out to play. (more…)