MIND THAT CHILD
Revealed: Britain’s ageing fleet of ice cream vans belch out dangerous levels of killer ‘black carbon’
DIESEL-ENGINED ice cream vans are spewing out dangerously high levels of a deadly pollutant which is especially harmful to young children, a Mail on Sunday investigation has revealed.
The engines are kept running while the vans are parked to power their fridges, leaving queuing families to breathe in a pollutant that can trigger asthma attacks after just a few minutes’ exposure and is responsible for thousands of deaths each year.
Known as black carbon, the sootlike substance is particularly dangerous for babies and stunts the growth of children’s lungs as well as causing cancer and dementia.
Our reporters found families being exposed to levels of black carbon more than 40 times the limit recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The readings were so high that a leading expert in children’s health warned even a one-off exposure for ten minutes could cause serious problems for a youngster with existing breathing problems.
Professor Jonathan Grigg, head of paediatric respiratory medicine at Queen Mary University of London, said: ‘Certainly, in the case of a child with asthma there is a risk that exposure to black carbon at the levels you have recorded could bring on an attack.’
In a series of tests conducted across the country, reporters found two ageing vans that were pumping out emissions containing almost six times the level of black carbon that would be recorded on a busy day in London’s Oxford Street.
The pollutant, which is made up of microscopic particles of carbon, has been identified as one of the emissions most harmful to public health in Europe and is a prime contributor to the estimated 40,000 premature deaths in Britain every year attributed to air pollution. WHO recommends levels should average out at no higher than 10 micrograms per cubic metre of air, although there is no safe level.
In London, experts expect to see on average five micrograms per cubic metre of air.
A team of Mail on Sunday investigators took emissions readings using aethalometers, which measures concentrations of particle levels in the air.
The highest reading recorded was in Hythe, Kent, where Roi’s Super Ices were selling ice creams and lollies from a 40-year-old Bedford van. Our monitor recorded a peak reading of 455 micrograms of black carbon per cubic metre of air, more than 40 times the WHO recommendation.
Customer Jessica Rigby, who treated her three young children to ice creams, said: ‘No one wants to see the end of the ice cream van, but care does need to be taken over pollution. Children love them so everything should be done to make them safe.’
The van is run by Julia Rossi, who said: ‘This is a very old traditional vehicle so I guess it is not the best for fumes.’
The second-highest readings we recorded were from a Mr Tropical van parked near the heath in the upmarket North London district of Hampstead. At its peak, the 17year-old W-reg van registered 442 micrograms of black carbon per cubic metre.
Andrew Coles, 43, who bought his seven-year-old daughter an ice cream, was shocked when told about the dangers of black carbon. He said: ‘I know there’s a massive problem with diesel engines and I can really smell it and see the fumes.’
At the Royal Windsor Jaguar Festival last Saturday, children were also exposed to dangerously high amounts of black carbon. When the monitor was held at adult
HYTHE 45 times the safe limit
The World Health Organisation (WHO) there should say be no more than 10 micrograms metre per cubic of black carbon air – but in it reached 455 near this van in Kent height near the Wall’s-branded van’s exhaust at the event, it registered 18 micrograms but jumped to 32 at child height. Even a relatively new van that we tested in high winds, which would have reduced readings, returned worrying results. Dimascio’s Ices van parked on the seafront in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, had a reading that peaked at 16 micrograms, despite being equipped with the new technology to reduce exhaust gases. Owner Fulvio Dimascio said: ‘Unfortunately, the engines need to be on to work the ice cream machine, unless you have an electric van with an exterior power supply. More needs to be done to reduce emissions. There is room for improvement.’ Concern over emissions from diesel engines has grown so much recently the Government is considering offering owners of older vehicles cash to scrap them. Prof Grigg added: ‘Any idling diesel vehicle will produce high concentrations of sooty particles that, when inhaled over long periods, will cause health effects in children – such as reduced lung function and increased risk of developing asthma. ‘The older the vehicle is, the more particles that it will produce. Close proximity to idling ice cream vans could potentially expose individuals to similar level of sooty particles from busy roads.’ Mr Tropical and Wall’s did not respond to requests for a comment.
‘It could trigger an asthma attack’