Let’s curb car use so children can breathe clean air

‘Children are most at risk from polluted air,’ says Rachel White. Photograph: Kristian Buus/The Guardian

Your article (Birmingham’s toxic air ‘cuts half a year off children’s lives’, 8 July) shines a light on the UK’s air quality crisis and demonstrates the need for urgent action to protect children’s health. Children are most at risk from polluted air as it can increase the likelihood of developing asthma and lead to a rise in the number and severity of asthma attacks. The UK has the highest prevalence of childhood asthma in Europe.

A recent report, Healthy Air, Healthier Children, reveals the severity of air pollution in the places where children spend most of their time – at school. It showed the presence of nitrogen dioxide inside and outside all classrooms, a pollutant predominantly from traffic, and also found high levels of carbon dioxide.

Until we end our reliance on motor vehicles for local journeys, the plague of pollution over our streets and inside schools will continue. The government needs to show leadership by making 20mph the default in residential areas and delivering a network of safe walking and cycling routes to schools so that every child is able to travel by foot, cycle or scooter safely.

The failure to resolve this denies our children their basic human right – to breathe clean air.
Rachel White
Head of public affairs at Sustrans

• We need to reduce car use if we are to stop cutting children’s lives short. Air pollution is harmful to everyone, but for children it’s even worse – stunting their lung development and causing lifelong complications.

Over 70% of air pollution is produced by road traffic. Electric vehicles won’t solve congestion on our roads, and claims that they are zero emission are severely misleading as they still produce lung-harming particulate matter.

By prioritising investment in walking and cycling, our decision-makers can help people change their travel habits. We need to introduce clean-air zones in our major cities without delay if we hope to tackle this crisis.
Becki Cox
Principal technical adviser, Living Streets

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