An investigation of interventions for the reduction of traffic-related air pollution at schools in England

Brown, Louis

Abstract

Children are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of air pollution exposure due to their developing lungs and their greater respiratory rate than adults. The school commute presents a period of particular threat because children are exposed to higher levels of air pollution due to increased road traffic. This can lead to a range of health problems, including asthma, respiratory infections, and long-term lung damage. This research fills a gap in the literature by identifying relevant, effective interventions to reduce potential child exposure to harmful pollutants during the school commute, based on comprehensive academic reviews, stakeholder opinion, and dispersion modelling.

This thesis aims to investigate interventions to reduce and mitigate potential child exposure to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) in the vicinity of schools in England and on the school commute. A literature review was combined with the findings of a systematic review to determine suitable reduction and exposure mitigation interventions and to provide an academic basis for constructing a stakeholder survey distributed to English schools. The results of the survey were compiled by teacher and parent respondents. A geographical information system (GIS) was constructed to identify pollution levels at schools in England. Several highly polluted school environments were identified, and these were used as case study areas for dispersion modelling.

A set of interventions, popular with the participants in the stakeholder survey and shown to be demonstrably effective by the literature, were applied to the school environments using dispersion modelling to determine their overall effectiveness. The GIS showed that urban environments throughout the UK had the most polluted schools. Schools in England were significantly more polluted than schools in other UK countries. London had a greater number of polluted schools than any other UK region. Dispersion modelling showed the greatest reductions from all selected interventions were found on travel routes rather than by school buildings. At all travel routes, dispersion modelling showed reductions of NO2 concentrations resulting from low emission zones (-15.85%), mode shifts to active travel (-12.97%), improved travel routes (-16.02%), ridesharing (-13.16%), and anti-idling (-8.27%).

The investigation outcomes provided the basis for policy recommendations at the national, local authority, and parent/teacher levels. The recommendations centre on reducing TRAP in the vicinity of schools and on the school commute, emphasising improved monitoring, greater communication between stakeholder groups, and immediate action.

Citation

Brown, L. An investigation of interventions for the reduction of traffic-related air pollution at schools in England. (Thesis). University of the West of England. Retrieved from https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10194429

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Nov 28, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 27, 2023
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10194429
• Award Date: Apr 27, 2023