MNHQ here: how concerned are you about air quality?

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello

We've been contacted by the Mayor of London's office; they're asking us to find out what Mumsnet users think about air quality - particular in relation to children's health, although it doesn't have to be exclusively so.

So we'd be grateful if you could let us have your views. Here are some prompts, although as ever feel free to ignore if you have other thoughts

*Is air quality something that you think about often, or that impacts on your daily life (or that of your family members)?
*Have you ever considered air quality when making decisions about where to live or work, or where to send your children to school?
*Do you take any measures to try to protect yourself or family members from poor air quality (such as filter masks)?
*Are you particularly concerned about any individual pollutants?
*Who do you think should be responsible for improving the quality of the air (if anyone)?
*If you could opt in to auto-alerts that gave you information about the air quality each day, would you do so? How would you use this information?
*Would you support policy measures to reduce air pollution such as scrapping diesel automobiles or charges on car use?

All feedback (not just from Londoners!) very welcome - thank you.
MNHQ

I was very concerned and complained repeatedly to my mp about the local coal power station (not in London)
My asthma used to be dreadful and you couldn't hang washing outside to dry without it being covered in black ash.

The power station repeatedly denied that they were responsible for the ash or contributing to anyone's ill health locally

The power station has closed now and my health is improving along with several others I know who previously suffered with chest complaints.

My point is that air pollution causes significant illnesses across the uk and it is definitely something that should be top of the list to deal with. Fixing the air pollution will reduce the strain on the nhs and make it more pleasant to live. It's well worth investing in.

Not a concern for me. I live in Shropshire; I'm in a pretty big town but it's surrounded by open countryside.

My little boy really struggles to breath when the air quality is poor, we all really notice the difference when we've been away from London for a few days!! I worry about my little boy, and would I've move out of central london in a heartbeat!! I have just bought a Dyson Air purifier to try and improve the air quality in our flat (it works!!)...so for at least 12 hours (overnight) I know my little boy is breathing fresh air!! I really hope the major makes reducing pollution levels & improving the air quality in London a real priority!!

Yes, I'm worried, and I think it should be made illegal to remove those converter things on diesel cars that help reduce it. My daughter's nursery is on a poor air quality route and it bothers me - it is one of the reasons I am moving her. It was also one of the reasons why I changed the order on the school places choices for my children. I would love it if the mayor took serious action over air quality especially as with brexit on the cards and the UK in breach of air quality legislation we need to move change in this area.

Yes, air quality is a huge issue. I bought a house at the end of a cul de sac, bordered by a million scotch pines, on purpose. I once lived in a place from which I couldn't see a single tree from any window.

If you pave paradise, expect asthma. And flooding.

Increasingly concerned. Am pregnant, asthmatic and mother of a toddler in a polluted area of London (zone 2). When my daughter recently spent a night in hospital, she was the only child on an 8 bed ward who wasn't there being treated for asthma/breathing difficulties.

One of the pollutants that very badly affects air quality where we are which hasn't been addressed so far is building sites. We have several large redevelopment projects near us, and on the days when 1960s blocks of flats are being pulled down the air is thick with concrete dust (with who knows what else mixed in) and my asthma is very badly affected. I'd like to see more recognition and legislation around this type of air pollution in London as currently it seems to be a complete free for all.

For the sake of balance - it doesn't worry me at all, it's something I've never paid attention to tbh.

And I have lived in London for the best part of a decade, but I really didn't notice anything or think about it.

Yes, very concerned about this. Both for the direct reasons (the link between poor air quality and poor health), AND for indirect reasons - most of the causes of poor air quality also make our cities less nice places to live.

We live in inner London, and I LONG for more protected cycle routes, for the 20mph limit to apply to all roads and to be ENFORCED, for buses to be fully electric/hydrogen-powered, for taxis to be electric, and for there to be strict rules about when/where/which HGVs enter the city. Oh, and for someone, FINALLY to do something about the insane Hampstead school run traffic that snarls up and stinks out our area (far from Hampstead - we're a 'fly-over state') every morning.

I used to be very concerned about air quality when I lived in London. My son had severe eczema and was hospitalised once it was so bad.
We moved to the southern hemisphere for other reasons, but apparently the southern hemisphere has much cleaner air. Where we live most of the energy comes from hydro and wind and most of the cars run on ethanol, we also live in a rural mountain area. So I'm less concerned now. My sons eczema has gone completely. We're going on holiday to London soon, I'm curious to see if his eczema comes back because I have a theory that air quality is a possible trigger for him.

I used to live in rural East Anglia - whenever I went to London I'd get horrible black snot so really noticed the air pollution. I now live on the outskirts of a capital city in SE Asia, very close to an international airport and an intersection of several motorways. The air here feels cleaner than London. I don't think I would want to live long term in London due to air pollution.

I come from India and spent the first 23 years of my life there. Nothing about the UK can remotely worry me about pollution, and it wouldn't you too, if you saw and smelt the skies and air of India.

I worry about children in buggies getting so many fumes as they are at the same level as exhausts.

A friend in a rural area hosted people from China who had never seen a rainbow.
Sometimes in warmer weather in London the air feels thick and heavy.

Thanks for this thread. I'm horribly worried about air pollution. We live in London and it's the main reason we keep coming back to when trying to decide whether we should sell and move somewhere else. I love London but it feels so wrong to let our daughter grow up in a city with dangerous levels of air pollution. Desperately sad and worrying.

Houseconfusion it's awful people in India suffer such levels of air pollution, but we most definitely should not stop worrying about the levels here.
I really don't understand your point.

I now live in rural Lancashire but until five years ago had spent all of my then-34 years in London (Newcastle for uni 3 years so another urban city).

I don't think at all about air quality not but ironically I was walking with DD (3) today where we live and I commented to her how sweet the air was to breathe in and how lovely, and that we are very blessed to live where we do now as when DH, DS (7) and I lived in London it was full of car fumes etc.

I didn't worry at all about it when I was in London but when I go down now for work (a few times a month) sometimes my nostrils actually feel like they are burning. :(

*now

I knew my children were at a polluted school but I've just read the Guardian article on NO2 emissions and they are at THE most polluted primary in London. I am horrified. It is the responsibility of the government and the London assembly to make sure this is addressed as soon as possible.

I can't see that a text message is going to help us in anyway, we live locally and don't have the option to move at the moment. Emissions around the westway, Edgware Rd, Gloucester Place and Baker St need to be addressed right now.

DH and I will absolutely support any changes that need to be made to reduce emissions.

Please Mr Khan!!

www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/01/children-at-nearly-90-london-secondary-schools-exposed-to-dangerous-air-pollution

Never given it a second thought; I live nowhere near London and was unaware that it was even an issue.

Rural in East Midlands and I do work in a city but it's not relevent to me at all. The pollen causes me much more problems.

I live in zone 5 of London and this is a great concern for me. I have painted my walls with air purifying/organic paints in the home. Have an air filter in each room and am about to replace my flooring with eco-friendly materials that do not emit voc.

When my DC was younger I withdrew them from a nursery that was on a main road. Again with the current school I would love for the road to become a large vehicle free zone.

I do hope that this becomes a main agenda to prioritise for the Mayor of London.

Big concern here (zone 6). Particularly with all the extra traffic on the road with online shopping deliveries and Uber-style services where drivers keep their cars idling - I think there should be fines for that.