Guest post from Mums for Lungs: "The UK has a higher rate of childhood asthma than any other country in Europe"

[JuliaMumsnet]

Today is Clean Air Day. We know from conversations on Mumsnet that parents are worried about air pollution. In our survey, over half (54%) of parents said that they are ‘quite’ or ‘extremely worried’. This jumps up to 66% for parents who live in urban areas and 80% for those who live in London or Greater London. On our forums, we see worries about this driving decisions about nurseries, primary schools and even house moves. In a legal first, Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah recently successfully campaigned for air pollution to be listed as the main cause of death on her daughter Ella's death certificate. A guest post by Ruth Fitzharris, from Mums for Lungs:

"It is June 2021 and we are making tentative steps back into a world of full social interaction. This week I am looking forward to a cuppa with another mum while the kids play in the garden. But one worry never leaves me – air pollution. More cars back on the roads means more air pollution too. Today is Clean Air Day, developed to remind us all that air pollution is one of the biggest health and environmental risks of our time. In the UK between 36,000 and 64,000 people are estimated to die prematurely every year as a result of air pollution as it contributes to so many illnesses from cradle to grave: asthma, dementia, cancer, mental health illnesses and more.

I first became interested in air pollution around the third time my son had been admitted to hospital with viral induced wheeze during the heatwave of 2018. His treatment involved having a cannula inserted in both hands, heart monitors on his chest and oxygen tubes in his nose, and hourly inhalers. I stayed beside him in the bed, trying to keep all the wires in place and comfort him. A respiratory consultant advised us to walk back street routes when possible, to avoid polluted and congested streets. They explained that air pollution causes an inflammation of the lungs that makes wheeze or asthma attacks more likely and more severe, should my son be triggered for example by a cold! That day was the last day I ever felt safe in the city we lived in, the city that I grew up in. How was I ever going to be able to avoid polluted roads whilst living in London?!

The summer of 2018 continued to be a punishing one, tipping 34 degrees daily, the heat was apocalyptic. Just going to the high street for groceries or waiting at a bus stop became anxiety-inducing as I eyed the queues of traffic pumping out the fumes I now knew were so harmful. By October my son had been admitted to hospital seven times. I had a hospital bag packed permanently and had learnt to recognise the sequence of symptoms that alerted me to call an ambulance: coughing, pale skin tone, faster rate of breathing, wheezing, pulling in under the rib cage. I began to suffer from panic attacks as I was so worried that I might misjudge the state of his breathing.

The words of the consultant swum around my head and I began to tentatively read about air pollution. I was startled to learn about the sheer scale of the problem. The UK has a higher rate of childhood asthma than any other country in Europe. Many areas of the UK, especially the cities, are unhealthily polluted. New research by Global Action Plan and Earth Sense has found that 27% of UK schools are located in areas which are above World Health Organisation air pollution limits. The air, polluted by gases from the exhausts of diesel vehicles (NOx) and tiny bits of matter from tyre, brake and road wear as well as wood burning (particulate matter) is affecting us all, but making the most vulnerable sick.

My son is a bit stronger now, but I am worried for all the other kids across the country. I have now joined Mums for Lungs, a network of people (not just mums!) campaigning for clean air, so all children can breathe safely. We try to raise awareness of air pollution and ask people to take individual action, but we really focus on campaigning for change at government-level because ultimately they have the power and responsibility to reduce pollution quickly! In fact, many parts of the UK are even illegally polluted and yet the Government is taking very little action to protect everyone’s health.

On this Clean Air Day please join me in protecting our kids:

• Reduce the use of your car
• Reduce the number of deliveries you get, or collect them yourself (click and collect)
• Don’t use a wood burning stove or fire pit
• You could even campaign for a School Street so the council closes the road by the school at drop-off and pick up times
• Or perhaps even campaign for bigger change – join Mums for Lungs to campaign for cleaner air.

Can I also ask you to follow Mums for Lungs on social media?
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram

There is also lots of information and resources on the website from info on School Streets, to idling flyers and a new page on how to help your school to take action too.

Please get in touch with [email protected] if you want to learn more or have questions about how to improve air pollution in your local area!"

Ruth Fitzharris is a member of Mums for Lungs, a mother, and an air quality campaigner who lives in London.

What a shame such limited space.

A start would be to campaign for one of the tennis courts size spaces to be turfed at least?

Is this another thing for us (mainly mums let's be honest) to feel guilty about? Goody.

Reduce the number of deliveries you get, or collect them yourself (click and collect)

This doesn't make sense. So instead of a delivery van doing multiple drop offs in one journey, it's better for those 20 people who receive deliveries to go out individually in their cars?

Following

* A respiratory consultant advised us to walk back street routes when possible, to avoid polluted and congested streets. *

Please could you name the respiratory consultant

@Sometimesfraught82

* A respiratory consultant advised us to walk back street routes when possible, to avoid polluted and congested streets. *

Please could you name the respiratory consultant

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3mXHDs31VgMfhdlhDngnBdN/should-i-worry-about-air-pollution

have s look at this report. there is a direct comparison of a busy and a less busy route

Nothing to add except that when I see Rosamund on TV she fills me with awe. What a strong, articulate inspirational woman she is. She has turned a tragedy into a force for change. Her daughter would be so proud. I dont know her but I'm proud of her!

@purplesequins

if you want to measure air quality around schools you can get into contact with www.cleanairuk.org/ they were very helpful organising measurements where we used to live.

This is really useful, thank you.

This is a concern of mine and luckily my local council are monitoring it for the town centre.

But outside of that, we walk to school every day and the number of stationary cars (parked on pavements and grass verges I hasten to add) is phenomenal. Drivers are usually on their phones with the engine running.

The near misses are one thing and dangerous enough but primary school children are walking at exhaust height breathing in, almost directly, car petrol fumes. I'm considering a local campaign.

Hello everyone,

thank you for all your comments and engaging so strongly with this post on air pollution! Btw - I am Jemima, and I founded Mums for Lungs.

I will get into responding to questions and thoughts now. So excited!

Thank you!

[quote wherewildflowersgrow]I agree. I also think there is a great deal of air pollution in homes eg people still using bleach etc .

www.blf.org.uk/sites/default/files/Indoor%20air%20pollution%20downloadable%20PDF.pdf[/quote]
You are totally right @wherewildflowersgrow - there is lots of pollution indoors from indoor-sources such as bleach and other cleaning products, a gas stove etc (I always open the window when we cook!) but also of course outdoors pollution comes inside, so we really need to tackle air pollution from all sources!

Delivery vans tend to be diesel, which produce more particulates than petrol, so there is that consideration. Walking and cycling are the best. In our town now we have a cycle delivery service.

@purplesequins

my dc school planted a 'barrier hedge' along the fence to the road to reduce pollution from traffic. I don't know how effective it is but the playground felt a lot cleaner with hedge.

also: bikeability courses for parents and children.

YES! You clearly already know a lot about air pollution @purplesequins! Fancy joining us? You could be most welcome . So hedges or green screens as they are sometimes called, make a difference to air pollution playgrounds if they are high enough and ideally also consist of something with a lot of (sticky) leaves - so pollution particles stick to the hedge. There is more info here: www.cleanerairsooner.org/green-infrastructure

@Smeee3

Delivery vans tend to be diesel, which produce more particulates than petrol, so there is that consideration. Walking and cycling are the best. In our town now we have a cycle delivery service.

What a great initiative! All diesel vehicles emit a lot of pollution. There is a real concern that due to the pandemic there is a real rise in deliveries and hence pollution everywhere. So if you can, please consider bulk orders, ordering less often, click and collect or shopping in your local high street instead when you are there anyway (even better if you can get there without a car)!

@CarolinaInMyMind

Is it true that air pollution is actually worse inside the cars?

Hi @CarolinaInMyMind, yes, it is true that air pollution can be significantly higher inside a car than outside. Basically the air con of many cars suck in what the car in front puts out through their exhaust . The pollution can get trapped inside the car. So if walking or cycling is an option, that is a better alternative for many reasons including your own health....

@DrCoconut

Reducing car use will require better and cheaper public transport. My school run would cost about £50 a week by bus. When you factor in shopping, going to work, visiting my parents etc as well it's cheaper to drive a small car.

@DrCoconut totally agreed - that is why we at Mums for Lungs strongly campaign for much cheaper, more accessible and reliable transport! It is not just cost, they buses and trains have to be reliable and frequent too etc.

@BraveBraveMouse

Agreed. But think individual action is no where near enough, we need to legislate for clean air and make some hard decisions as a society around car use.

Hi @BraveBraveMouse yes! Could not agree more! You and everyone else here who is keen to get involved to reduce air pollution is warmly invited to join us at our next meeting. Email us at [email protected]. Thank you!

@ContessaVerde

Some of the school streets resources seems tailored to London. Are there any school streets outside of London? I can’t see it gaining any traction where I live, unfortunately.

Can we measure air pollution ourselves so that we can use this information to campaign? Or is there a resource available to check pollution levels in our areas?

Hi @ContessaVerde there are some School Streets outside London now, for example in Bristol and Birmingham. But the problem is right now that legislation does not allow for ANPR-cameras to enforce them outside of London yet. Disappointingly Government has again delayed the necessary legislation and we are not expecting that until December. But if you are interested in campaigning for a School Streets, we might be able to give you some pointers on the phone if you wanted?!

Hey @OhHolyJesus if we can help you with idling flyers or with campaign support, please let us know! Here to help

@MojoMoon

The countryside can have much worse air quality than you expect. If you live in a village where a lot of homes are using wood stoves, open fires etc (which is more common in rural areas) then your local PM2 particulate rate in the air can be extremely high on cold winter days. Plus diesel burning agricultural equipment etc.

If you are surrounded by your own land and don't burn wood yourself at home, great. But don't assume villages will automatically be better for your child's health if they have asthma

Hi there @MojoMoon - you are totally right about air pollution in the countryside too. Wood burning is just so popular and the awareness of its harms are so low - we have just started sending out a flyer about it, but have also asked Government to really a) raise awareness, but b) more importantly phase out wood burning - about 200 000 wood burners are installed every year mostly in homes that have alternative heating. And then fire pits etc - almost impossible to regulate those! It is really difficult to protect our kids and ourselves.