2.6million pupils breathing in toxic air

MIllIONS of schoolchildren are being poisoned by pollution every day, analysis has shown.

About 6,500 nursery, primary and secondary schools with a total of 2.6million children are in areas where levels of toxic particles exceed the World Health Organisation’s recommended limit.

The fine particles tested, known as pM2.5, are the most dangerous form of air pollution and can get into the lungs and into the blood stream. Research by The Times using data from the london Atmospheric emissions Inventory found that every school in the capital is over the WHO limit of 10mg per cubic metre, along with 234 in Birmingham. leicester and Nottingham each have dangerous levels affecting more than 100 schools.

The revelations come days after Rosamund Kissi-debrah from south london won her fight for a new inquest into the death of her daughter, ella. She says the nine-year- old asthma sufferer’s death in 2013 was caused by toxic fumes from a busy road near their home in Hither Green.

Air pollution is thought to contribute to 40,000 early deaths a year, and is particularly dangerous for the young, the elderly and those with lung conditions.

Jonathan Grigg, professor of paediatric respiratory medicine at Queen Mary University of london, told The Times that children exposed to toxic air suffer ‘reduced lung function growth, increased risk of serious lung infections, and increased risk of developing life-long asthma’.

environment Secretary Michael Gove said the WHO had described the Government’s clean air strategy outlined in January as a model for other countries to follow.

He admitted the Government wanted to be ‘more ambitious’ but stressed: ‘One of the things that makes it difficult for people to plan – the people with whom we need to work in industry and local government – is if they feel that there is a constantly revised and constantly changing set of targets.’