As Public hearings for North runway at London Gatwick Airport Dutch researchers found that inhaler use was higher among children living near Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.
If you stand near a large airport and the wind is blowing in the wrong direction, every cubic centimetre of air you breathe can contain tens of thousands of ultrafine particles (UFPs).
Air pollution measuring devices were placed in three primary schools, located approximately one kilometre from the airport fence. Researchers measured the lung function weekly of 161 children attending these primary schools, as well as 19 children with asthma who lived near the airport. Because the schools were located north and south of the airport, the children experienced the airport’s UFPs at different times.
The children were also taught how to take their own lung measurements at home in the morning and evening, and it was from these records that the study’s most important findings emerged.
Professor Gerald Hook Utrecht Universityled studystated that “on days when aviation-related UFPs were higher, children had significantly more respiratory symptoms and used more symptom-relieving medications.” These symptoms included coughing, wheezing, and phlegm. Wind direction alone is not a good predictor of exposure to airport UFPs, so it is unlikely that parents or children were aware of their daily exposure. Traffic-related UFPs and soot were also associated with changes in symptoms and morning lung tests.
In 2021, Dutch Health Council And that World Health Organization (WHO) He highlighted the growing evidence that UFPs are harming our health, including: 75 studiesHowever, technical differences between studies prevented the WHO from setting a standard at the time.
In 2020, the study Of the four European capitals, air UFPs arrived in the city center from suburban airports. In the UK, UFPs from Heathrow Airport Measurable Located 20km from central London The entire western part of the cityUFPs have also been measured under flight paths at US airports, including Boston’s airport. Logan International Although it is close to the airport, these measurements do not reflect what it feels like to live close to an airport.
From 2018 to 2019, I led a team of researchers UFP measurements around Gatwick include Horley, a town of 23,000 people People next to the airport. We found that the UFP 500 metres downwind of the airport is larger than the UFP at the kerb of London’s busiest road.
Victoria ChesterThe Green Party local councillor said about living close to Gatwick Airport: “I live very close to where the airport expansion will have the biggest impact on Horley. Living close to an airport you get used to the noise and smell but some days it’s so bad you can taste the pollutants in the air and when the wind blows it really stinks.”
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A Gatwick Airport spokesman said: ” North Runway Project Environmental Statement This will include a proper assessment of UFPs. London Gatwick Airport has committed to taking part in the national aviation industry body’s study of UFP emissions at airports, including looking at monitoring methods. We have proposed to make a voluntary contribution towards research funding in case the government introduces standards.”
