A new air quality campaign hits the streets of Southampton this week to highlight the damaging impacts of air pollution on children.

 

The Breathing Spaces project commissioned local artist Nathan Evans to create striking posters which make clear the link between dirty air and children’s health.

They will appear near schools and playgrounds, many sited near busy roads, on Thursday (October 8).

That date is also Clean Air Day 2020 - the UK’s largest campaign for tackling air pollution. 

Campaigners say the number of premature deaths associated with fine particle pollution each year in Southampton is now 168 – an increase of 50% in less than a decade.

“Our children are more vulnerable to air pollution, growing up with stunted lungs, poor mental health and a lower life expectancy. Just a 20% improvement in the city’s air quality would mean every year 150 fewer children would suffer from low lung function,” they said in a statement.

Mandi Bissett, a co-ordinator of the Breathing Spaces campaign, added: “Air pollution is not a ‘green’ issue, it is about our health. Toxic air is an invisible killer which affects every single organ in the body and children are most susceptible because their bodies are still growing. We need to start talking about creating healthy neighbourhoods and safer streets for us all.”

The campaign poster, pictured, encourages residents to walk and cycle, speak up about clean air issues, and avoid burning wood, which also creates fine particle pollution.

Photo: Mandi Bissett/The Southampton Collective