"A preventable crisis"- over 8000 children admitted to Lewisham hospital struggling to breathe

New figures obtained by Mums for Lungs showed that 8218 children were brought into A&E or wards at University Hospital Lewisham with serious breathing difficulties last year.

Almost 114,000 children were admitted across all London hospitals. The campaign group sent Freedom of Information requests to NHS Trusts across London.

The group says the scale of the health crisis is linked to toxic air pollution and they are calling for urgent action from local councils, the London mayor and the government.

Dr Katie Knight, Paediatric Emergency Medicine consultant in Haringey, said:

“Every year we see thousands of children in London coming to A&E with severe breathing difficulties, many of whom will have had their symptoms exacerbated by toxic air pollution.

"With the NHS 10 Year Plan having just been published, the time to act is now to avoid a crisis in our health system that is entirely preventable.”

Children are particularly vulnerable to air pollution because they breathe more rapidly and are closer to the ground, where pollutants like nitrogen dioxide and PM2.5 are more concentrated.

Mary Toraldo-King, parent of Carolina, 9 and Nino, 7 said: “I’m a parent living in Lewisham, about 20 metres from the A2 road. I worry every day that I’m harming my children by bringing them up in an area with high levels of air pollution.

"Every month there’s more evidence being discovered of the harm air pollutants cause to human health.

"We know a lot of the solutions are really simple - such as reducing motor traffic, promoting active travel - and Lewisham, the GLA and national government need to take urgent action for people’s health and well-being right now.” 

Previous research has shown that living near a busy road can stunt children’s lung growth by up to 14%; it also adds to the risk of cardiac arrest, heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and bronchitis across all age groups.

Road transport remains the biggest source of harmful emissions in London - particularly diesel vehicles and large, heavy SUVs that emit significantly more air pollution and carbon emissions than smaller cars. Domestic combustion such as wood burning is one of the major sources of particle pollution (PM2.5).

Mums for Lungs is calling for a phase out of diesel vehicles in London, restrictions on large, high-polluting SUVs, an end to domestic wood burning (except where it is the only source of heating) and more funding for school streets.

UK air quality targets weaker than EU and WHO targets

The group also call for the UK to follow an "enforceable pathway" to achieve World Health Organisation (WHO) targets for key pollutants nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and PM2.5.

As research on the widespread harms of air pollution has developed, the WHO air quality targets have been tightened up.

The UK's air quality targets are now far weaker than WHO safe levels and for some key pollutants are 4 x higher than the WHO target.

The EU targets for 2030 are significantly tougher than the UK's, but still do not meet WHO air quality targets which scientists say are safe.

Lewisham council air pollution monitoring can be found here.

Colour shading is based on the UK's current UK air quality standards. Air pollution levels considered to be "Low" in the UK, may be "Medium" or "High" when using the tougher EU or WHO standards.

Loampit Vale monitor frequently shows the highest air pollution readings across Lewisham.

It is on the very busy A20 Lewisham Way red route, close to Vita student accommodation, Lewisham shopping centre and the Lewisham Gateway residential development.

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