A mum who campaigned for years to clean up London’s air for her kids has said she has been proven right by a major new study on the health benefits of the ultra low emission zone.
Jemima Hartshorn set up Mums for Lungs in London in 2017 after reading how air pollution could stunt the lung growth of her newborn son.
Now a new study by Queen Mary University has found that air quality improvements thanks to Ulez is linked to healthier lungs for young people.
The scientists discovered that children’s lung size and health accelerated since the introduction of Ulez in 2019.
Jemima told : ‘This is fantastic news. It gives me real reassurance that it is never too late to clean up the air.
‘To hear that any damage my children may have had is outweighed by Ulez is such a massive relief.’
Spearheaded by Sadiq Khan, Ulez charges drivers each day they enter any London borough in a more polluting vehicle.
The team at Queen Mary’s, who monitored more than 3,400 children aged six to nine from 2018 to 2022, found that kids in London had signficantly smaller lungs compared to Luton before Ulez was introduced.
However the data collected over five years indicated that London children’s lung size and health both accelerated and improved as the zone was implemented.
By 2022, the lungs of children in the capital became comparable to those in Luton, which has a similar mix of traffic pollutants to London but no clean air zone.
The scientists found that the boost in lung growth was strongly related to air quality improvements.
Chris Griffiths, professor of primary care at the University of Oxford and at Queen Mary University of London and joint senior author of the report, said: ‘Traffic pollution in cities damages children’s health and development.
‘We provide the strongest evidence yet on how these harms can be prevented.
‘Ambitious clean air zones should be considered a priority for cities globally with traffic-related air pollution’.
Experts warn that children who do not have fully developed lungs by early adulthood face higher risks of asthma, cardiovascular and metabolic disease, as well as premature death as adults.
Jemima, who two children aged 7 and 10, said the results of the study were ‘super exciting’ and showed that ‘damage inflicted by air pollution can be compensated by cleaner air.’
She added: ‘This is more than ever a call to action for city leaders and the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who knows that air pollution is stunting children’s lungs and stifling our economy.
‘If he wants to truly set Britain on path to growth, we need cleaner air, less diesel, a phase out of domestic burning, and real action to clean out our cities and towns.’
Her grassroots campaign Mums for Lungs works to raise awareness of air pollution and were leading advocates for Sadiq Khan’s Ulez plan.
The London Mayor celebrated the findings from Queen Mary’s and said it showed the ‘extraordinary difference that cleaner air can make’.
Khan told : ‘No child should have their future health limited by the air they breathe.
‘Today’s landmark independent report provides yet more compelling evidence that the London ULEZ, the world’s biggest clean air zone, is working and has been a huge success – showing it’s never too late to act against the devastating effects of air pollution.’
While Ulez has been celebrated by climate campaigners, it has faced huge backlash from some drivers.
Critics argue the daily fee negatively impacts people who rely more on vehicles for transport in outer London boroughs as well as low-income households, commuters and small businesses who use older vans.
Khan said he had ‘refused to stand by’ and watch air pollution damage Londoners’ health, despite the opposition from ‘a vocal minority backed by vested interests’.
He added: ‘This research proves we were right to act and reinforces my decision to extend the benefits of cleaner air to every child in London.’
The Queen Mary’s study recruited children from 84 primary schools in London and Luton, testing their lung health annually.
Within five years of the introduction of Ulez, researchers found that London children’s exposure to the car exhaust pollutant NO2 fell twice as fast, and more than twice as much compared with children in Luton.
During that time, scientists tested their children’s forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) – a key measure of well someone’s lungs and airways work.
Over the course of the study, London children’s FEV1 increased by 10ml per year more than children in Luton.
At the end of the five years, the FEV1 of London’s children had caught up to Luton’s.
The team also found that the proportion of children with clinically impaired lung function fell from 14% to 9% in London, compared with a fall from 9% to 7% in Luton.
Ian Mudway, associate professor in the School of Public Health at Imperial College London and joint senior author of the report, said: ‘Air pollution is a global issue. If we want to improve the lives of children living in high-traffic urban environments, we need bold and ambitious measures.
‘Our data demonstrates that clean air zones can be an effective public health intervention to prevent damage to developing lungs’.
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