Children at highest risk from pollution
Parents advised to change route to school in order to reduce risk from high levels of air pollution
Parents are being advised to use quieter roads for the walk to school after research found that children were exposed to 30 per cent more air pollution than adults. A report by Global Action Plan, the environmental charity, points out that, because children are shorter, they are nearer to harmful exhaust fumes. Parents are also being told to leave the car at home because pollution inside vehicles is 50 per cent higher than on the pavement.
‘We wouldn’t make our children drink dirty water, so why are we allowing them to breathe dirty air?’
CHILDREN are exposed to 30 per cent more air pollution than adults when walking to school because they are shorter and nearer to exhaust fumes, a report has found.
Parents are being told to pick quieter roads to protect their children from toxic air, and also to ditch the car, because pollution inside vehicles is 50 per cent higher than on the pavement.
Inhaling pollution raises the risk of health problems, including heart complications and asthma, and potentially reduces the growth of children’s lungs.
Chris Large, a senior partner at Global Action Plan, the environmental charity that carried out the research, said: “Millions of children in the UK [who] are walking to school along busy roads are potentially being exposed to 30 per cent more pollution than their parents. A simple solution for parents would be to choose quieter back routes to walk or cycle children to school, away from the traffic, thereby reducing their exposure to unnecessarily high levels of damaging air pollution.”
For the research, children and adults in four UK cities – Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow and London – carried an air pollution monitor for 10 minutes while walking along a quiet route, then on a busy road, travelling by car in traffic and riding on a bus.
Separate analysis by Unicef UK suggests one in three UK children live in areas with unsafe levels of air pollution, which could leave them with long-term health problems.
Around 4.5million children, including 1.6million aged five and under, are living in areas with levels of particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution above what the World Health Organisation (WHO) deems is safe. Unicef UK is calling on the Government to prioritise and fund measures that target the most polluted areas and protect children from toxic air.
Amy Gibbs, the charity’s director of advocacy, said: “We wouldn’t make our children drink dirty water, so why are we allowing them to breathe dirty air?”
Joe Farrington-douglas, of Asthma UK, added: “This could be particularly perilous for the 1.1million children in the UK with asthma, as air pollution is a common cause of asthma attacks.”
He urged the Government to protect the next generation from toxic air by bringing in a new Clean Air Act to improve pollution hot spots.
Simon Gillespie, the chief executive of the British Heart Foundation, also urged the Government to stick to WHO guidelines. “While walking along quieter roads may help an individual, the UK needs tighter air pollution limits to prevent the detrimental impact toxic pollutants have on the public’s health,” he said. “Adopting the World Health Organisation’s air quality guidelines into national legislation is a crucial first step in achieving this.”