London teens at risk of high blood pressure due to air pollution, according to King’s College study

Teenagers in London risk having high blood pressure due to long-term exposure to air pollution, a study has found. King’s College London’s research examined the effects of air pollution on children attending 51 schools across London.

Analysing data from 3,284 adolescents, following up from ages 11-13 and 14-16 years old to determine how air pollution impacts a growing adolescent’s health. Researchers say that similar studies have been carried out on adults, but due to teenagers ‘rapidly growing bodies’, they may be particularly susceptible to long-lasting effects of exposure to air pollutants.

The researchers found that Particulate Matter (PM2.5) – tiny pollutants that come from car exhaust fumes, building, and industry materials – was associated with higher blood pressure across all ages, particularly among teenage girls. The study also shows teenagers from ethnic minority groups were exposed to higher annual average concentrations of pollution at home than their white UK peers.

Dr Alexis Karamanos, from King’s College London, said: “Further studies following the same adolescents over time in different socio-economic contexts are needed to understand whether and how exposure to higher pollutant concentrations may affect differently the cardiovascular health of children and adolescents,

“The findings highlight the potential detrimental role of exposure to higher concentrations of particulate matter on adolescents’ blood pressure levels.”

According to the government website, poor air quality is the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK as long-term exposure to air pollution can cause chronic conditions such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases as well as lung cancer, leading to reduced life expectancy.

Professor of social epidemiology Seeromanie Harding said their study of 3,000 adolescents ‘provides a unique opportunity to track exposures of adolescents living in deprived neighbourhoods’.

She said: “Given that more than one million under-18s live in neighbourhoods where air pollution is higher than the recommended health standards, there is an urgent need for more of these studies to gain an in-depth understanding of the threats to (and opportunities for) young people’s development.”

Public Health England estimates that long-term exposure to man-made air pollution in the UK has an annual effect equivalent to 28,000 to 36,000 deaths a year. Air pollutants are emitted from a range of both man-made and natural sources. Many everyday activities such as transport, industrial processes, farming, energy generation and domestic heating can have a detrimental effect on air quality.