Air pollution in British cities can damage our health from before we are born, dog us throughout our lives, and for over 40,000 of us every year, kill us.
Our poisoned air affects all of us, no matter our age and recent studies highlights the damage extending far beyond the lungs. Earlier this year, research revealed that air pollution causes a significant reduction in intelligence – equivalent to missing an entire year of education.
It now appears that air pollution may be damage our health before we are even born.
| “It is always good if possible to take less polluted routes if you are pregnant – or indeed if you are not pregnant”
Scientists at Queen Mary University of London have found evidence that nanoparticles of airborne soot make their way via a pregnant women’s lungs to lodge in the placentas – researchers say it is quite possible the particles entered the foetuses too.
“It is a worrying problem – there is a massive association between air pollution a mother breathes in and the effect it has on the foetus,” says Dr Lisa Miyashita, one of the researchers. “It is always good if possible to take less polluted routes if you are pregnant – or indeed if you are not pregnant. I avoid busy roads when I walk to the station.”
A study of over half a million births in London, published last year, confirmed a link between air pollution during pregnancy and low birth weight (and the resulting health complications throughout life) leading doctors to say the implications for many millions of women are “something approaching a public health catastrophe”.
As children we are exposed to air pollution on the school run and while in the playground. Unicef UK equipped six school children in London with personal air monitors which recorded soot particles over a 24-hour period. Researchers found that while the kids spent around 7 per cent of the day travelling, they experienced 15 per cent of their daily exposure to the pollutant while on their journeys. And while they spent 32 per cent of the day at school, they got 44 per cent of their exposure to the pollution during that time.
Amy Gibbs, Unicef UK’s director of advocacy, said: “Every day, thousands of children across the UK are setting off on a toxic school run that could impact their lifespan and contribute to serious long-term health problems.”
Things are little better for older folk. Those over 50 in areas with high levels of nitrogen oxide show a 40 per cent greater risk of developing dementia than those living in areas with the least pollution according to a study published in the BMJ Open journal this week. The authors state the link between high pollution and dementia diagnosis cannot be explained by other factors known to raise risks of the disease.
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