It changes lung tissue in much the same way as repeated sunburns cause skin cells to lose their elasticity and age. The same process appears to occur in the lungs of people. Ozone may also reduce your immune system's ability to fight off bacterial infections in your lungs. That hits your wallet at the supermarket. Inflammation and swelling have a greater effect on their narrower air passageways.
Children spend more time outdoors in the summer when ozone levels are higher.
And they exercise more vigorously than adults, three times as much according to one California study. That exercise means deeper breaths that suck ozone into more sensitive corners of the lungs. Plus, kids often don't listen to the warnings that their bodies give them to slow down. Minority children are more likely to be at risk because they tend to live in urban areas where air pollution levels are highest. As average temperatures rise, ozone levels will worsen.