Children in Northern Ireland being 'let down' by poor air quality guidance

Just three schools in Northern Ireland have an air pollution monitor within 10 metres, according to a leading lung health charity.

The British Lung Foundation (BLF) said children across the UK are being let down by inadequate air pollution guidance.

The charity said a Freedom of Information request to authorities across the UK revealed that more than three quarters (78%) of councils in Northern Ireland do not have air quality monitors outside schools.

The World Health Organisation has identified Armagh, Derry and Belfast as having unsafe levels of particle pollution (PM2.5) - yet across these areas, only one school is being monitored, in Belfast.

The BLF has now launched a petition calling for urgent government action to protect children’s growing lungs.

Irene Johnstone, Head of British Lung Foundation Northern Ireland, said: “Children’s health is disproportionately at risk from air pollution, yet it is not being protected by current air quality monitoring guidance.

“Northern Ireland already has some of the highest rates of lung disease in the UK, particularly in our cities and urban areas. Exposing our children to polluted air will only make this worse.

“Research suggests children growing up in areas of severe air pollution are up to five times more likely to have poor lung development and are more prone to respiratory infections.

“As well as affecting children with conditions such as asthma, everyday exposure to pollution has even been found to contribute to breathing problems in healthy children.

“We need Westminster to bring forward a new UK Clean Air Act with action to bring pollution levels down to safe limits, and make it a requirement to monitor air quality outside our schools.

“We also need the Northern Ireland Government to develop a detailed action plan which will ensure clean air and healthy lungs for future generations. We are launching this petition today and we hope the governments will listen.”

Russell Hobby, General Secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers said: “Schools are supposed to be safe places to learn and play. With air pollution being invisible, we feel children and the adults that teach them are not being made fully aware of the health risks from air pollution.

“This is not good enough. The BLF research shows that local authorities need clear guidance to monitor the air that children breathe as well as more resources and funding.  That is why we are supporting the BLF’s petition to get more stringent regulations on monitoring air quality outside schools.”

Seven out of nine responding local authorities (out of a possible 11) are not monitoring air pollution outside any schools.

The petition is available from: www.blf.org.uk/cleanair