A recent study has found that children's lungs in London grew bigger and stronger following the restriction of polluting vehicles from entering the city. Examinations of London schoolchildren before and after the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (Ulez) was introduced revealed a restoration of lung capacity that had been stunted by pollution exposure.
Researchers recruited 1,664 children aged six to nine in London and 1,750 in Luton, a town with a similar mix of traffic pollutants but no clean air zone, before Ulez came into force. Annual visits from 2018 to 2022 monitored the children's size and health to assess the impact of air quality changes on lung development.
Initial measurements showed London children had significantly smaller lungs compared to those in Luton. However, after Ulez was implemented, the size and health of London children's lungs improved to become comparable with those in Luton. The improvements in lung function correlated strongly with better air quality, with London children's exposure to nitrogen dioxide falling twice as fast and twice as much as Luton children's within five years of Ulez.
Professor Chris Griffiths, a joint senior author of the study from the University of Oxford and Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), stated that the findings provide strong evidence on how the harms of traffic pollution on children's health can be prevented. He suggested that ambitious clean-air zones should be a priority for cities globally facing traffic-related air pollution.