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Summary

Authors:

1) Anil Namdeo, 2) Laura Keast, 3) Lindsay Bramwell, 4) Kamal Jyoti Maji, 5) Judith Rankin 

Children are particularly vulnerable to adverse effects of air pollution due to their short stature, developing lungs and higher rate of respiration (WHO, 2013; RCP, 2016). Health effects of air pollution on children include asthma, slower development of lung function, development problems, more wheezing and coughs and start of atherosclerosis (PHE, 2018). Considering the impacts on children’s other systems, exposure to ambient air pollution is associated with decreased attention and alertness in children and may be associated with insulin resistance, decreased brain development, and an increased risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)(Thiering et al., 2013; PHE, 2018). 

The UK has one of the highest prevalence, emergency admission and death rates for childhood asthma in Europe. Outcomes are worse for children and young people living in the most deprived areas (RCPCH, 2020). One in 11 children and young people are currently living with asthma (NHS, 2023). It has been estimated that asthma is responsible for substantial morbidity in the UK, with 2.8 million school days lost per year (Mukherjee et al., 2016). More than 25,000 children are admitted to hospitals with asthma attacks in the UK (Levy, 2015). Family member are directly impacted by children’s asthma, with 69% parents or carers taking time off work and 13% giving up their jobs completely (Mukherjee et al., 2022).

Newcastle study and other studies from the UK suggest that a higher proportion of schools are in locations where ambient concentrations of PM2.5 exceed the WHO2005 AQG of 10 µg/m3 and with a greater number of schools likely to achieve the WHO2021 guidelines. Many of the schools also breach the National Ambient Air Quality Objective of 40 µg/m3 (annual mean) for NO2. In Newcastle and elsewhere, most of the schools will struggle to meet the new WHO2021 guidelines of 10 µg/m3 for NO2 (annual mean). This indicates that the school children in the UK will continue to be exposed to harmful levels of pollution concentrations unless steps are taken to reduce the emissions and exposures.

Anil Namdeo1, Laura Keast2, Lindsay Bramwell3, Kamal Jyoti Maji4, Judith Rankin5

1 Professor of Air Quality Management, Northumbria University, Newcastle; UKRI Regional Clean Air Champion; anil.namdeo@northumbria.ac.uk 

2 HEENE Leadership and Management Fellow, NHS; laurajane.keast@nhs.net 

3 Northumbria University, Newcastle; lindsay.bramwell@northumbria.ac.uk 

4 Georgia Institute of University, USA; kmaji3@gatech.edu

5 Population Health Sciences Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University; judith.rankin@newcastle.ac.uk  

More about the author

Professor of Air Quality Management and Net Zero Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences Northumbria University anil.namdeo@northumbria.ac.uk