Parent group The Air Team change street names to raise pollution awareness

A group of parents have been changing street signs to raise awareness of pollution in the areas their children walk to school.

All the parents involved are members of The Air Team and they have given their children’s school street a new name – incorporating the chemical symbols for Nitrogen Dioxide, one of the most harmful pollutants emitted by vehicles.

The Air Team is a group of parents across the UK which is are concerned about the damage air pollution is causing to their children’s health.

Jemima Hartshorn, Air Team member and founder of South London campaigning group Mums for Lungs, is ‘renaming’ her son’s nursery street in Brixton, and a road in Dulwich with several schools in it.

Jemima said: “There is a desperate need for change. We want to raise awareness because we think people would rethink their mode of travel if they knew about the devastating health impacts of car emissions on children’s health.”

A recent study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health revealed that 29 per cent of all new childhood asthma cases across the UK were caused by air pollution, and according to research by Queen Mary University, children in cities can have up to 10 per cent less lung capacity.

The Air Team is calling on the government to implement new clean air legislation to cut air pollution across the UK.