Researchers have found that children near Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport use inhalers more and have increased asthma-related symptoms because of higher levels of air pollution.
What's happening?
In a new study, Dutch researchers installed air pollution equipment in three different grade schools, each less than a mile from the airport border, as detailed by the Guardian.
Weekly measurements of 161 children from the schools and 19 asthmatic children living in the same area were taken to gauge lung function.
Professor Gerard Hoek of Utrecht University led the study and said that days with higher aviation-related ultrafine particles (UFPs) resulted in more respiratory distress. Symptoms included coughing, wheezing, and phlegm.
"On days with high aviation-related UFP, children experienced substantially more respiratory symptoms and used more symptom-relieving medication," Hoek told the Guardian.
It should be mentioned that UFPs and soot from traffic were also associated with symptoms and changes, particularly in morning lung tests.
Why are these results concerning?
Each cubic centimeter of air breathed near a large airport contains tens of thousands of UFPs, per the Guardian.
The article noted that, in 2021, the Dutch Health Council and the World Health Organization focused on growing evidence that UFPs were damaging our health, using results from 75 different studies.
In 2020, a study of four European capitals found aviation UFPs in the city centers, miles away from the airports. However, researchers found that UFP concentrations are higher within a mile downwind of the airport than they are on the curbs of London's busiest roads.
Victoria Chester described living close to London's Gatwick Airport, telling the Guardian: "Living near the airport you become used to the noise and smell, but on some days it's so bad you can taste the pollution in the air, and when the wind blows in your direction it really stinks."
This is a huge problem, especially for those who live, work, and attend school in these areas.
Airplanes are a giant consumer of dirty energy, responsible for around 2.5% of carbon pollution, per Our World in Data.
The National Cancer Institute has linked UFP to lung cancer, the most deadly cancer in the United States.
What's being done about aviation-related air pollution?
This study may help encourage positive change at airports around the world, resulting in reduced air pollution and the creation of a new standard.
"It may not be possible to get a full picture of health effects of UFPs until we can conduct large-scale epidemiological studies. In the meantime, reduction of exposure to particles from all sources is prudent to protect health," University of Leicester professor Anna Hansell, who was not involved in the study, said to the Guardian.
Change is also coming in the form of alternative, cleaner fuel sources. Japan has plans to build airplanes that use hydrogen fuel or electric propulsion. Other innovative aviation in development include hybrid electric planes, electric planes, and "air-powered" planes.
Airports are making all kinds of eco-friendly shifts, too: from LAX in Los Angeles banning the sale of single-use plastic bottles, to the solar carport and battery storage facility project at JFK in New York, and Washington Dulles International Airport's $200 million renovation that includes electric vehicle charging stations and a solar farm.
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