Missions
We must build a sustainable society that guarantees our long-term future. We can only do this by changing policies, lifting small businesses, promoting innovation, and defending our values. We must guarantee a sustainable policy that considers all aspects of society and future generations.
"We want to address the health effects of poor air quality on people whose health is most impacted by air pollution: children, older people and people with heart and lung conditions."
Health effects of air pollution during school drop-off
UK estimates that one in three children in the UK are growing up in areas with unsafe levels of particulate pollution. In our towns and cities, the majority of this harmful pollution comes from vehicle emissions.
Every day, millions of children in our towns and cities are exposed to dangerous levels of pollution in the areas where they live, learn and play.This invisible danger could be stunting their lung growth, increasing their risk of asthma and potentially damaging their brain growth.
Research finds children are disproportionately exposed to higher doses of pollution during the school run and while they are at school – particularly at break time when they’re in the school playground.
The Source of the problem
Children are exposed to black carbon, which is a constituent of particulate matter pollution. Particulate matter refers to tiny bits of solids or liquid suspended in the air. They are measured by their size – they range from bigger particles such as soot or dust to particles which are smaller than the width of a human hair. These tiny particles are the most dangerous for our health as they’re able to penetrate deep into our lungs, and potentially even into our bloodstream and our brains.
For babies and young children, these health effects are even more acute. Exposure to toxic particulates during these critical early stages of development can leave a child with stunted lungs, with respiratory conditions like asthma and potentially even reduced brain development. This is a threat to every child’s right to health and to grow up in a clean and safe environment.
It is estimated the health effects from air pollution exposure cost the NHS and social care services more than £40 million each year. Even the smallest improvement in exposure could reap rewards for children and the UK taxpayer
Why focus on health effects of air pollution?
Air pollution has a disproportionate effect on the health and wellbeing of those most susceptible to it. This includes children under 15 (including during pregnancy), older people and people with heart and lung conditions.
Air pollution is more prevalent in urban areas. And poor air quality doesn’t impact people in these areas equally; some people are more susceptible to its harmful effects than others. And we know that it intersects with other systemic causes of ill health.
Air pollution is an invisible but dangerous threat to children’s health. Toxic emissions can damage children’s growth and leave them with lasting health problems. In 71% of UK towns and cities, children are breathing unsafe levels of air pollution. Around 1 in 3 babies are growing up in areas of the UK with unsafe levels of particulate matter – that’s nearly 270,000 babies under the age of 1 in the UK.
This not only violates a child’s right to health, but also their future. It could impact their right to education, their right to play and ultimately, their right to life.
Major gains for children’s health could be made if funding, interventions and policies were targeted to pollution reduction around schools and nurseries and on the school run itself. Unicef UK is calling on the government to urgently fund and prioritise policies and health interventions that protect children from toxic air before irreversible damage is done to their health and their futures.
Research and sources
University of Surrey’s Global Centre for Clean Air Research
https://www.unicef.org.uk/publications/the-toxic-school-run/
https://www.unicef.org.uk/clean-air-child-health-air-pollution/
https://www.surrey.ac.uk/global-centre-clean-air-research
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720318738?via%3Dihub