London’s Pollution Causing Decreased Lung Capacity In Children
Children could be at more of a risk from the air particles created by traffic pollution than was originally thought. An early result of a major London study indicates that the lung capacity of 8- and 9-year-olds is 5% worse than the national standard.
Professor Jonathan Grigg at the Center for Pediatrics at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry is leading the study.
The particles, or "particulates,” are formed in vehicle exhaust and are smaller than the thickness of a single hair.
The results were not a surprise to the researchers at Lancaster University, who warn that particulates, or PM10 particles, are higher than even recorded by their monitoring devices.
Professor Grigg told BBC News that: "Our findings in the East End of London are that children living here have slightly lower lung function than what we’d expect from the national average. Now, if that’s due to air pollution, as we suspect, they’re going to be at increased risk from a range of respiratory disorders such as asthma and infection, and may be at risk in adulthood."
203 children from all areas of London participated in these tests that spanned several years. Provisional data from 149 children indicate that 11 have lung capacity that is 80% or less than the national figure.
These numbers will increase the pressure on the UK over Britain’s failure to follow European Union air quality regulations. The EU requires that PM10 levels have to stay below 40 micrograms per cubic meter of air.
The new research by Lancaster University is now indicating that the PM10 levels may be even poorer than official numbers show.
Professor Barbara Maher stated to BBC News that: "We’re surrounded by this invisible mist of these millions of toxic particles – you can’t see them but we know, we’ve measured them, they’re here. When we do our leaf magnetic measurements, our research shows that down at small child height the concentrations – the number – of these very fine particles is sometimes twice the current EU regulation standard."
Several of the students tested attend the Cathedral School in Lancaster. The school’s principal, Anne Goddard, said the numbers were "quite worrying".
"It’s the only playground we have at the school and it’s right next to the road. The levels are high so obviously the effect on the children, especially those with asthma, is a concern."
The Environment Secretary Hilary Benn does admit that this is an issue that must be addressed, but says 24 out of 27 members of the European Union are also in breach of the PM10 regulations.
He added that "huge progress" had been accomplished over the last few decades with the Clean Air Act and from the alterations made in vehicle standards.
"But we need to do more and principally that will be about cars and lorries and buses," he said. “And we’ve been working with other countries in Europe to improve the standards to get these PM10 particles down because we know it has an effect on our health."
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