Question: What can children do during their commute to school to minimize their exposure to traffic related air pollutants?

Owen Jones answered on 7 Nov 2018:

Hi Honor,

Great question. Due to a higher breathing rate and smaller lung capacity, as well as being lower to the ground, children are at a significantly increased risk of exposure to PM2.5 and black carbon. But research does suggest the benefits of physical activity achieved during the commute far outweights the negative impact of air pollution. But reducing the use of private vehicles for the school run and create less polluted and safter home-to-school routes are the main solutions. You can do this yourself by choosing quieter roads to walk along, where possible use parks or trees/bushes to shield you from traffic pollution on the journey.