98 per cent of schools in London are in areas that surpass World Health Organisation pollution limits, an analysis by New City Hall has found.
Children in London are four times more likely to attend school in areas with high levels of pollution levels that exceed World Health Organisation limits: Over 700,000 of which are of primary school age.
Poor air quality has been proven to stunt the development of children’s lungs and exacerbates chronic illnesses, including asthma.
The analysis further found that 98 per cent of state primary and secondary schools in London reside in areas that exceed WHO limits. Moreover, on average, PM2.5 concentrations were 33 per cent higher than in the rest of England.
Air pollution has a significant impact on children’s health, and those who grow up in polluted areas of London develop smaller lung volume by approximately 5 per cent, research by King’s College London, Queen Mary University of London, and the University of Edinburgh discovered.
Furthermore, Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic communities are more likely to be most exposed to the worst air pollution. The Mayor of London claims that the ULEZ expansion up to the North and South Circular roads in October will reduce the exposure gap by up to 85 per cent.
‘For too long it has been accepted that children growing up in London will breathe more polluted air than their friends and family outside this great city,’ the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan commented.
‘I want to make sure all of London meets the World Health Organization limits for particulate matter. But I can’t do it alone and I want to work with Government to achieve this goal. That’s why I’m asking for the new Environment Bill to include legally binding WHO recommended limits to be achieved by 2030.
‘We can’t sleepwalk from the health crisis of COVID back into complacency over the major impact of toxic air on everyone’s health.’
Harriet Edwards, Senior Policy and Projects Manager at Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation, reiterated: ‘Each year, the capital’s poor air quality contributes to around 1,000 emergency hospital admissions for children with asthma and other respiratory conditions. Children should feel safe when they are at school, but instead they are being exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution which could be damaging their lungs and future prospects.
‘For the tens of thousands of children living with existing lung conditions, breathing dirty air could trigger a life-threatening asthma attack or exacerbation. That’s why we welcome the expanded ULEZ to help make more of London’s schools safer and more inclusive for children with all types of lung disease.’
Find out more about how 50 per cent of children are concern about air pollution in the UK, according to a YouGov poll.
