From Mums for Lungs
A Freedom of Information request
sent to London Northwest University Healthcare Trust and the Royal Free London
NHS Foundation Trust reveals the scale of respiratory problems amongst the
youngest children in Brent and Barnet.
In 2023, the latest figures
available, 436 children under five were dmitted to hospital with respiratory
difficulties. Across 22 London hospitals surveyed, more than 15,000
children were admitted with serious breathing difficulties.
Baby grows Brent: credit
Jonathan Goldberg.
L-R: Amandine Alexandre, Sally
Toure, Tony Burch, Frances Holloway, Gourav Gourav, Ilaria Esposito, Agnieszka
Szewera in Roundwood Park near Northwick Park Hospital. Pic credit: Jonathan
Goldberg / Mums for Lungs.
The figures, obtained by air
pollution campaigners, Mums for Lungs, have prompted calls to speed up the
removal of all diesel vehicles by at least 2030, with some limited exceptions.
Parents have been hanging baby
grows that spell out ‘Clean Air Now’ near areas affected by high levels of
pollution, all in breach of World Health Organization standards.
Across England as a whole, 15,328
children aged 19 or under were admitted into hospital for serious asthma
attacks alone, according to Public Health England figures from 2022/23. For
London, the figure is 2,705.
Amandine Alexandre, a parent who lives in Brent and trustee of Harlesden
Neighbourhood Forum said,
Although
air quality in Brent has improved since 2016, Harlesden High Street is bucking
this trend. Thanks to our Breathe London monitoring station, we know that, most
days, nitrogen dioxide levels still far exceed the air quality standards set by
the World Health Organization in 2021. This is very worrying considering that
NO2 irritates our lungs and weakens our immune system. Harlesden residents
deserve cleaner air now.”
Harlesden
Neighbourhood Forum, a charity responsible for implementing the local
neighbourhood plan, was successful in bidding for a Breathe London community
node in 2021. The solar powered pollution monitoring station was installed by
Imperial College London in March 2022. (It was taken down by Brent council by
mistake in the autumn of 2022 and was re-installed on March 30th 2023.) The
data can be accessed live on Breathe London. It can also
be easily visualised on Air Aware.
The Breathe
London Network was established in 2021 as a partnership between the Mayor of
London, Imperial College London, and Bloomberg Philanthropies. It is making
reliable air quality monitoring data more accessible to local communities by
building a network of accurate and reliable air quality sensors across the
capital.
Air pollution monitors in Brent
and Barnet continue to show high levels of some of the most dangerous forms of
pollution - including nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM
2.5).
Due to the small size of many
of the particles some of these toxins may enter the bloodstream and be
transported around the body, lodging in the heart, brain and other organs.
Exposure to PM 2.5 can result in serious impacts to health, especially in
vulnerable groups of people such as the young and elderly.
Short-term exposure to
concentrations of NO2 can cause inflammation of the airways and increase
susceptibility to respiratory infections and to allergens. NO2 can exacerbate
the symptoms of those already suffering from lung or heart conditions.
Monitors in
Brent show levels of air pollution in some cases close to the legal
limits (23 - 33 ÎĽg/m3 NO2) and well for PM2.5 above WHO guidelines for
2024 so far as well.
NB. UK legal
annual limit values:
NO2 =
40ÎĽg/m3, PM2.5 = 20ÎĽg/m3.
WHO
guidelines:
NO2 =
10ÎĽg/m3, PM2.5 = 5ÎĽg/m3
Editor's note: The new North Brent Secondary School is due to open in Neasden Lane
Dr Anna Moore, a respiratory
doctor who works in a London NHS Hospital, added:
All the evidence shows that
there is a clear connection between high levels of air pollution and
respiratory conditions. These figures also demonstrate that there are hundreds
of children who are in hospital with conditions that could be prevented. At a
time when NHS resources are stretched thin, we need to urgently clean up our
air, including completely phasing out the most heavily polluting diesel cars,
trucks and vans and focus on infrastructure which enables safe walking and
cycling as this is vital for long term health.
Jemima Hartshorn, Mums for Lungs,
said:
Thousands of children are unable
to breathe because of preventable air pollution, this must change. So many
children are being admitted to hospitals with serious cases of asthma, and all
the evidence shows that damaging lungs at an early age can cause lifelong
health conditions. The next national Government, Mayors and local authorities
must all use their powers to phase out diesel vehicles and protect children
from painful and debilitating health conditions.
Road transport is the largest
contributor to air pollution in London and it’s thought that air pollution
contributes to around 4,000 early deaths each year in London.
Mums for
Lungs have written to the main political party leaders Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir
Starmer calling for them to discourage people from buying diesel vehicles
and to set a target for England to be diesel-free by 2030, with
limited exemptions, alongside action on wood burning and creating more School
Streets, which restrict car use at drop off and pick up.