Investigating the impact of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone on children’s health: Children’s Health in London and Luton (CHILL): Protocol for a prospective parallel cohort study
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Preprint
Abstract
Introduction: Air pollution harms health across the life course. Children are at particular risk of adverse effects during development, which may impact on health in later life. Interventions that improve air quality are therefore urgently needed not only to improve public health now, but to prevent longer-term increased vulnerability to chronic disease. Low Emission Zones are a public health policy intervention aimed at reducing traffic-derived contributions to urban air pollution, but evidence that they deliver clear health benefits is lacking. We established a natural experiment design study (CHILL: Children’s Health in London and Luton) to evaluate the impacts of the introduction of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) on children’s health.
Methods and analysis: CHILL is a prospective two-arm parallel longitudinal cohort study of children aged 6-9 years, attending primary schools in Central London (the focus of the first phase of the ULEZ) and Luton (a comparator site). The primary goal of the study is to examine the impact of changes in annual air pollutant exposures as oxides of nitrogen, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter less than 2.5microns and 10microns (NOx, NO2, PM2.5, PM10 respectively) across the two sites on lung growth, measured as forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC), over four consecutive years. Secondary outcomes being investigated include a range of respiratory health indicators as well as inequality and health economic measures.
Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval has been given by Queen Mary University of London Research Ethics Committee (ref 2018/08). Dissemination will target audiences through a variety of channels, including research papers, conference and media presentations, web summaries and social media. CHILL is funded by National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Public Health Research (Ref 16/139/09) with additional funding by Natural Environment Research Council, NIHR CLAHRC North Thames, NIHR ARC North Thames, and the Mayor of London. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04695093
Strengths:
CHILL uses a prospective parallel cohort design, allowing robust conclusions to be drawn on the impact of the ULEZ - a major city-wide air quality mitigation strategy - on air quality and children’s respiratory health.
CHILL study cohorts include children from large and ethnically diverse populations living in urban areas characterised by poor air quality.
Limitations:
Attrition of study cohort population over time, although this has been accounted for in the original design of the study.
Potential diminution of the ULEZ air pollution signal due to pre-compliance with ULEZ restrictions in the run up to the introduction of the scheme in Central London on the 8th April 2019, and minor impacts of other pollution mitigation measures.
Added complexity of accounting for effects of COVID-19 and related lockdowns on traffic flows, air quality and children’s health.
Competing Interest Statement:
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Clinical Trial:
NCT04695093
Funding Statement:
This study is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Pubic Health Research Programme (16/139/01). Additional funding is provided by the National Institute for Health Research ARC North Thames, Barts Charity, and the Mayor of London. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
Methods and analysis: CHILL is a prospective two-arm parallel longitudinal cohort study of children aged 6-9 years, attending primary schools in Central London (the focus of the first phase of the ULEZ) and Luton (a comparator site). The primary goal of the study is to examine the impact of changes in annual air pollutant exposures as oxides of nitrogen, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter less than 2.5microns and 10microns (NOx, NO2, PM2.5, PM10 respectively) across the two sites on lung growth, measured as forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC), over four consecutive years. Secondary outcomes being investigated include a range of respiratory health indicators as well as inequality and health economic measures.
Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval has been given by Queen Mary University of London Research Ethics Committee (ref 2018/08). Dissemination will target audiences through a variety of channels, including research papers, conference and media presentations, web summaries and social media. CHILL is funded by National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Public Health Research (Ref 16/139/09) with additional funding by Natural Environment Research Council, NIHR CLAHRC North Thames, NIHR ARC North Thames, and the Mayor of London. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04695093
Strengths:
CHILL uses a prospective parallel cohort design, allowing robust conclusions to be drawn on the impact of the ULEZ - a major city-wide air quality mitigation strategy - on air quality and children’s respiratory health.
CHILL study cohorts include children from large and ethnically diverse populations living in urban areas characterised by poor air quality.
Limitations:
Attrition of study cohort population over time, although this has been accounted for in the original design of the study.
Potential diminution of the ULEZ air pollution signal due to pre-compliance with ULEZ restrictions in the run up to the introduction of the scheme in Central London on the 8th April 2019, and minor impacts of other pollution mitigation measures.
Added complexity of accounting for effects of COVID-19 and related lockdowns on traffic flows, air quality and children’s health.
Competing Interest Statement:
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Clinical Trial:
NCT04695093
Funding Statement:
This study is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Pubic Health Research Programme (16/139/01). Additional funding is provided by the National Institute for Health Research ARC North Thames, Barts Charity, and the Mayor of London. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
Online Publication Date
2024-03-12T10:58:13Z
Copyright Statement
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-ND 4.0 International license.