Short Takes - 2005-01-05

A government study links air pollution to lower birth weight. Researchers at the National Center for Health Statistics studied more than 18,000 full-term infants born in California in 2000 and found among women with the least exposure to fine-particle pollution, 8.5% had a baby who was small for gestational age. That compares with 9.2% of women with the highest pollution exposure. The study appears in the journal Pediatrics.