Nursery World - Health & Nutrition

What are the effects of air pollution on children, and how can settings tackle the problem? Meredith Jones Russell looks at what is being done in London

According to the World Health Organization, 93 per cent of children under the age of 15 breathe air so polluted that it puts their health and development in danger.

Children who grow up in areas with high pollution levels are likely to have smaller lung capacity than those living with cleaner air, while the British Heart Foundation estimates that air pollution is responsible for up to 36,000 deaths in the UK each year.

Most recently, nine-year-old Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, who lived near the South Circular Road in Lewisham, south-east London, became the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as cause of death at last year’s inquest after she died in 2013.

WHAT IT IS

Air pollution is any harmful particles or gases in the air we breathe, either outdoors and indoors.

In cities, the biggest source of air pollution is road transport. Indoors, air pollution levels can be affected by chemicals in cleaning or decorating materials, how we heat buildings or cook in them, building materials used for construction, and the presence of smoke.

Children are more vulnerable to polluted air than adults because their airways are smaller, they breathe more rapidly, and sitting in buggies means they are closer to car exhausts and hand-held cigarettes.

Air pollution can impact neurodevelopment and cognitive ability, and can trigger asthma, which already affects one in 11 children in England, or childhood cancer. Children who have been exposed to high levels of air pollution may be at greater risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease later in life. Pregnant women who are exposed to air pollution are more likely to give birth prematurely and have children with lower birth weights.

MAYORAL AUDITS

In 2018, following an audit of 50 primary schools in London’s most polluted areas, the Mayor announced an extension to cover 20 nursery schools in the city, investing £250,000. The direct outcome of the audits was a series of recommendations for each nursery, including:

‘no engine idling’ schemes to reduce emissions
reducing emissions from boilers, kitchens and other sources
closing surrounding roads to traffic at nursery drop-off and collection times
adding green infrastructure such as ‘barrier bushes’ along busy roads and in playgrounds
encouraging children to walk, cycle and scoot to nursery along less polluted routes
an indoor air-filtration system trialled in six settings.

Nurseries received funding of around £4,500 to kick-start the implementation of these, which many boroughs matched. Following the audits, the Mayor released an online toolkit of suggested measures for nurseries and launched the London Schools Pollution Helpdesk, offering free support to schools and nurseries.

CASE STUDY: Triangle Nursery School in Lambeth, south London

The nursery is located just behind a busy high street and close to several major bus routes. As a result, the council approached the setting to take part in the Mayor’s air pollution audits.

Luke Page, head of school at Triangle, says, ‘We were very keen to take part. We are always looking at ways to improve our practice and felt this would give us more information about how traffic affects our air quality.’

Sensors were installed in the playground and classrooms and staff sent regular results back to the Mayor’s office over a three-month period. The nursery then received a report on the findings and staff attended a meeting with the Mayor’s office to discuss the results and recommendations.

Luke explains, ‘The levels of pollutants actually weren’t that high, and were much lower than initially estimated. To hear there weren’t many pollutants coming from the main road was very reassuring, especially as we have one member of staff with quite severe asthma.’

The report did identify some helpful changes, however. ‘We noticed there were spikes when the cleaners came in, so we changed the cleaning company and chemicals we use,’ says Luke. ‘We also discussed installing an air filtration system, but they didn’t recommend it for us on the basis of cost-effectiveness.

‘What they did recommend was increasing the number of green plants across the school. That has had a massive effect on everybody. We have covered the inside with plants and it is lovely.

‘We haven’t had follow-up checks on air pollution levels so we don’t know if the plants have directly affected them, but they have certainly had an amazing effect on everyone’s wellbeing. It is a really pleasant environment to come into.’

The nursery purchased a large outdoor structure for scooters, bikes and buggies in response to an increased number of children and staff cycling, walking or scooting to nursery during the pandemic.

With an idling car engine able to produce up to twice the emissions of a car in motion, the nursery has also worked on providing parents with anti-idling information. ‘A lot of parents park outside and leave their engines on while they wait, sometimes up to 15 minutes a day,’ says Luke. ‘We have discussed the dangers and put a banner up outside to remind them. We are also hoping to set up a workshop for parents in the next academic year.’

Several plans, such as the workshop, have been put off until this new school year due to the pandemic. ‘We were going to create a green walking map outside the nursery for families and the local community, identifying greener routes to walk in the area,’ says Luke. ‘It’s a really lovely idea and will benefit everyone, but it hasn’t happened yet. We also intended to get green screens for the nursery walls made from ivy, but that was put on hold.

‘Also because of the pandemic, the money we were awarded has crossed over different budgets and financial years, and people have moved on, so it has become quite complicated to know what has been spent and what is left.

‘In total there will be between £10,000-15,000 available to the school to spend from Lambeth Council and the Greater London Authority, but so far we’ve only spent around £3,500. But we are hopeful that we can get everything going in September.’

Meanwhile, the nursery is glad to have the results of the audit to present to parents. ‘Usually parents are pleased we are close to the main road and transport links, but they do raise concerns about pollution from time to time, so having these results to reassure them, as well as prospective parents, will be invaluable,’ Luke says.