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Transport, heating and industry are the main sources of air pollution in Europe. Air pollution levels are still unsafe. Air quality management policies should be effective in protecting the health of children and adolescents. Improving air quality around schools and nurseries, as well as in other environments where children and adolescents spend their time, as well as during their commutes and outdoor sports, can help this vulnerable group to significantly reduce their exposure to air pollutants, which they breathe in mainly during the day. Children and young people under 18 cannot protect themselves from air pollution. They cannot influence policies themselves, nor can they elect their representatives at local, national or European level. We adults should therefore take active action to protect their health.

While air pollution affects everyone, children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable because their bodies, organs and immune systems are still developing. Air pollution harms health in childhood and increases the risk of disease in later life. Until overall air pollution is reduced to safe levels, improving air quality in environments where children are exposed can make a significant difference in reducing their long-term exposure to air pollution.

There are many factors that make children and young people particularly vulnerable to air pollution. For example, their breathing rate and frequency are several times higher than adults. They also inhale more air per kilogram of body weight than adults. Because of their shorter stature, children breathe closer to the ground, where some pollutants, particularly from car exhaust, are released and concentrated. Children also inhale higher doses of pollution because they breathe faster and are more physically active.

In addition, children breathe in more air through their mouths. As a result, pollution penetrates deep into their lower respiratory tract. Children’s bodies and organs, including their lungs, are also still developing, which further increases their risk. Children’s developing immune systems are weaker than those of adults, which exacerbates the negative effects of air pollution (World Health Organization, 2018).

Air pollution and children: sources and exposure

Air pollution is the contamination of indoor or outdoor air with any substance that alters its natural properties. Pollution comes from both natural and anthropogenic sources. These include pollution from road traffic (road surfaces and exhaust fumes), heating homes and buildings, agricultural activities, and pollution from industrial plants. Air pollution affects both urban and rural areas. These include dust particles of various sizes, ground-level ozone and nitrogen oxides, passive smoking, smoke from biomass burning in households, mold spores, mites and allergens, and carcinogenic chemicals (especially formaldehyde released from furniture made of chipboard, plywood, cardboard, flooring, paints, varnishes, carpets and wallpaper). Some of the pollutants listed can occur in higher concentrations in enclosed spaces.

Children are exposed to air pollution in the womb. After birth, they are usually also exposed to pollution in environments intended for children, such as outdoors in schools and kindergartens, or while commuting to school or performing various extracurricular activities. Outdoor air pollution also worsens the quality of indoor air in classrooms. It is therefore necessary to limit ventilation during a deterioration in the quality of the outdoor environment.

How does air pollution affect children?

Before birth, ambient air pollution increases the risk that children will be smaller during pregnancy or be born prematurely and with low birth weight. All of these can increase the risk of various health problems later in life. Air pollution after birth increases the risk of several types of adverse health outcomes. For example, it increases the risk of respiratory infections, including acute lower and upper respiratory tract infections, pneumonia, and otitis media. Short-term exposure to air pollution can worsen allergy symptoms, including allergic rhinitis, eczema, and allergic conjunctivitis.

Children’s lung function and development are also affected by short-term exposure to harmful ground-level ozone and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), or long-term exposure to fine dust particles (PM2.5). This effect can be seen in both healthy children and children with asthma. Asthma affects more than 9% of children in the EU, placing a heavy burden on children themselves, their families and society. The risk of developing asthma and asthma-like symptoms is clearly associated with long-term exposure to air pollution. Several epidemiological studies have confirmed the mechanisms of this effect. Asthma symptoms can range from mild to very severe, even life-threatening. Exposure to short-term air pollution increases the risk of children with asthma being hospitalised or having to go to the emergency room. There is also growing evidence that air pollution affects children's brain development, contributes to cognitive impairment and may play a role in the development of some types of autism spectrum disorders. Some studies also mention the link between air pollution from transport, where a link has been shown between the incidence of childhood leukaemia and exposure to benzene.

Reducing children's exposure to air pollution

Decreasing pollutant emissions have resulted in a decrease in their concentrations. Although air pollution levels in Europe are falling, they remain dangerous. Up to 91% of the urban population is exposed to air pollutant concentrations that exceed the World Health Organization's 2021 recommended levels. Taking action to protect Europe's children from this type of pollution is therefore urgent. It is our responsibility as adults to do so. The need to protect children may seem obvious, but the following must be highlighted:

• Children and adolescents typically lack the knowledge and skills to protect themselves by reducing their exposure to air pollution. They cannot decide where to live, go to school, and how to commute; they generally cannot interpret or act on air quality data or air pollution indicators.

• While children and adolescents are already particularly vulnerable today, they will continue to suffer the health consequences of current air pollution in the future. They have no control over this.

• Environmental policies work with data that comes from studies and research conducted on adult humans and adult animals. These policies implicitly treat children and adolescents as “small adults” and do not take into account their specific vulnerabilities and different biology.

Children and adolescents cannot directly influence these policies because they do not have the opportunity to vote in elections. Their interest groups have only marginal influence in increasingly complex policy areas. Reducing air pollution levels will help protect all Europeans, especially vulnerable groups such as children, pregnant women, the chronically ill and the elderly. Until air pollution is reduced to safe levels, the most effective way to protect their health is to prevent their long-term exposure to air pollution. Any policies designed to reduce exposure should be implemented at the local level, where this exposure actually occurs every day.

Good practices at local level: focusing on schools and nurseries

Some good practices can be considered locally to reduce children's exposure. Air pollution concentrations near or directly on school premises can be significantly influenced by the proximity of busy roads, the technical condition of vehicles, traffic density and limited dispersion conditions. A recently published study found that PM2.5 concentrations increased approximately threefold at the entrance to a school during peak hours at the beginning and end of school hours, when cars were queuing up in front of the school. Reducing air pollution around schools can make a significant contribution to reducing the concentrations of air pollutants that schoolchildren breathe in every day. This reduction can be achieved in a number of ways.

Establishing clean air zones around schools

Establishing “clean air zones” near schools can reduce the concentrations of pollutants in their surroundings. Lower pollution levels can be achieved by restricting traffic, such as no-idling zones or school streets, which prohibit parents’ vehicles from entering the immediate vicinity of the school at the beginning and end of school hours, or by relocating drop-off and pick-up locations, such as so-called “school drop-off and pick-up” areas. "Kiss and ride zones" - Stop, unload the child and make room, away from the entrances to school grounds.

Location of new schools and commuting methods.

If a school is in the planning stages, children’s exposure to air pollution can be reduced by locating the school away from sources of air pollution or areas with high levels of air pollution. The location of the school affects the primary modes of transport to and from school. A school built in a location with better air quality may be further from residential areas, requiring motorised commuting, which in turn could lead to higher levels of air pollution exposure. A school located closer to its pupils’ homes, meanwhile, may be accessible by walking or cycling, reducing traffic and leading to better air quality in its surroundings.

Commuting methods and routes are another area where good practice can help reduce exposure. If children who walk take an alternative route and avoid traffic jams, they can significantly reduce their exposure. Studies confirm that pedestrians may be willing to change their route when information about this pollution is available to them.

Locating schools away from high-traffic roads and within walking distance of home can benefit children’s health through their reduced exposure to air pollution, especially if they have the option of using back-street routes away from major traffic. It can also benefit children’s health through their increased physical activity, the benefits of which ultimately outweigh the risks from air pollution. Ultimately, however, economic, social and other reasons may prevent relocating schools or changing commuting patterns.

School site design.

The location and design of school sites and childcare facilities can help minimize children’s exposure to air pollution. For example, this involves locating classrooms as far away from traffic or playgrounds as possible behind buildings, walls or greenery (green infrastructure, i.e. using plants), which would allow natural ventilation that supports the dispersion of pollutants. At the same time, it is necessary to avoid unfiltered ventilation at times when there is a high level of pollution outside near the school. Green infrastructure can filter some air pollutants and change the air flow, thus reducing the concentrations of pollutants in the air. The type, height and porosity of vegetation significantly affect this cleaning effect. Various solutions have been proven locally, from ivy screens to hedges made of evergreen shrubs and climbing plants.

The diversity of greenery in both urban and rural environments around schools has a positive effect on climate regulation at the local level, supporting water retention during heavier rainfall and a subsequent increase in atmospheric humidity. In addition to improving air quality, green infrastructure in and around schools provides a number of social and environmental co-benefits, including cooling, protection from direct sunlight, opportunities for physical activity, water retention, habitat protection, etc. However, the level of greening of schools in urban areas in Europe is low. On average, only 10% of the area within 300 m of educational facilities is green, of which only 6% is covered by trees (EEA, 2023). Schools with the greenest surroundings are located in northern Europe.

In addition to the good practices listed above, there is a wide range of local measures that can help protect the population from air pollution. Well-informed citizens are generally in a better position to demand measures in the area of ​​air pollution and protect themselves from it. Air quality can be monitored on the website of the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute and also at www.dnesdycham.sk.

The LIFE IP – Improving Air Quality project or “Populair” recently introduced the mobile application “I Breathe Today”. Its aim is to raise public awareness of air quality in Slovakia. The “I Breathe Today” application displays informative values ​​of air pollution levels under the designation IKO – air quality index. The mobile application allows you to choose from which station push notifications about changes in air quality will be sent.

Sources:

https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/air-pollution-and-childrens-health/air-pollution-and-childrens-health/#fn1

https://populair.sk/sk/aktualita/aplikacia-dnes-dycham