Air pollution affects everyone but some people are more at risk of the impact than others including children, pregnant women, older people and those with respiratory and cardiovascular conditions. New research shows that air pollution can also affect the brain and mind; those who breathe polluted air are more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression, and dementia.
15th June is Clean Air Day, the UK’s largest campaign on air pollution. The day is a chance to find out more about air pollution, share information and make our air cleaner and healthier for everyone. Bringing together communities, businesses, education and the health sector the aim is to improve understanding of air pollution and raise awareness of how it affects health, alongside understanding behaviours to reduce contribution and exposure.
School communities can play an important role in raising awareness of the need for clean air to protect the health of children. They can provide valuable education to children on the causes of indoor and outdoor air pollution as well as delivering public health messages on how to protect themselves from exposure to air pollution. The Global Action Plan website contains learning resources, lesson plans and activities for KS1 to KS3 to support schools with delivering air pollution lessons and assemblies, which can be accessed at: Clean Air Day | Schools resources (actionforcleanair.org.uk)
Schools can access printable leaflets and other resources to reinforce key messages from Clean Air Knowledge Hub for the Health Sector (actionforcleanair.org.uk).
To find out more information on air quality in Leeds visit https://www.leeds.gov.uk/clean-air or contact Donna.whitelock@leeds.gov.uk / Vineeta.sehmbi@leeds.gov.uk