Children are especially vulnerable to the impacts of breathing polluted air The traffic outside your children’s school could be making the air in their playground and classroom dangerous to breathe. A recent US study has found that long-term exposure to pollution from traffic is reducing children’s lung capacity by almost 20%, which has life long health impacts and can reduce life expectancy. Research suggested that up to 30% of all new asthma cases in children are caused by exposure to air pollution. Unfortunately a lot of schools are built in busy urban areas, next to roads with heavy traffic. The way we travel to and from school also has an impact. Understandably, many parents take their children to school by car because it’s the most convenient option, but that could be contributing to the pollution outside the school gate and in the playground, especially if the engines are left on while the cars are parked.
Travel to school the healthy air way Adapting the way we get our kids to school will have a big impact on the amount of air pollution they breathe each day . Many schools have taken some actions to reduce the use of private transportation to school, for example:
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