Children near Amsterdam airport use inhalers more, study finds | Air pollution

As public hearings into London Gatwick Airport's northern runway resume, Dutch researchers have found greater use of inhalers among children living near Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.

Stand near a major airport and, if the wind is blowing in the wrong direction, every cubic centimeter of air you breathe will contain tens of thousands of ultrafine particles (UFPs).

Air pollution measuring equipment was installed in three primary schools, each located approximately one kilometer from the airport fence. The researchers took weekly measurements of the lung function of 161 school children and 19 asthmatic children living near the airport. With schools both north and south of the airport, children experienced the airport UFP at different times.

The children also learned to take their own lung measurements at home, in the morning and evening. It was these recordings that revealed the most important results of the study.

Professor Gerard Hoek from Utrecht University, who led the study, said: “On days when UFP was high in aviation, children had significantly more respiratory symptoms and used more medication to relieve symptoms. » These symptoms included coughing, wheezing and phlegm. Wind direction alone is not a good indicator of airport UFP exposure. It is therefore unlikely that parents or children will know their daily exposure. UFP and soot from circulation were also associated with symptoms and changes in morning lung tests.

In 2021, the Dutch Health Council and the World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted the growing evidence that PUFs harm our health. This included 75 studies, but technical differences between the studies meant the WHO could not set a standard at that time.

In 2020, a study in four European capitals found that UFP aviation was in city centers and originating from outlying airports. In the UK, Heathrow's UFP can be measured in central London, almost 20 km away, and throughout the west of the city. UFP has also been measured under the flight paths of U.S. airports, including Boston's Logan International Airport, but these measurements do not reflect the feeling of living near an airport.

In 2018 and 2019, I led a team of researchers who measured UFP around Gatwick, including in Horley, a town of 23,000 located next to the airport. We found that the UFP 500 meters downwind of the airport was higher than that at the edge of London's busiest roads.

Local Green Party councilor Victoria Chester described her life near Gatwick: “I live very close to where the airport expansion will have the most impact on Horley. Living near the airport you get used to the noise and smells, but some days it's so bad you can smell the pollution in the air and when the wind blows in your direction it really stinks.

A Gatwick spokesperson said: “The health impact assessment as part of the Northern Runway Project environmental statement includes an appropriate assessment of the UFP. London Gatwick is committed to participating in the national aviation industry body's studies into UFP emissions at airports, including those examining how monitoring could be undertaken. We offered a voluntary contribution to fund the work if the government introduced standards.