Toxic air hit the top “black” alert in London today leading to one school in the centre of the capital restricting time outdoors for young children. The “very high” readings for tiny particulate pollution were recorded before 6am at Sir John Cass’s Foundation Primary School, in the City area, Marylebone Road in Westminster, and three sites in Camden - Swiss Cottage, Euston Road and Bloomsbury. There were also 12 red “high” alerts for pollution peaks today, by 9am, at sites across London including Kensington & Chelsea, Richmond, Ealing, Brent, Enfield, Lambeth, Lewisham, Harrow, Hammersmith & Fulham, Redbridge, Greenwich and Tower Hamlets. Outdoor activity was being reduced for children, aged three months to five years, at Sir John Cass’s primary school, Aldgate, which has several air pollution monitors. The restriction was partly due to the filthy air and also the cold. Older pupils were being advised to cut back on strenuous exercise if they felt unwell. Head teacher Tim Wilson said: “We make sure our staff can take sensible and informed action on days like this. “As a school we are supportive of any action that improves air quality in London.” Other schools were advised to consider similar measures. Professor Jonathan Grigg, Professor of Paediatric Respiratory and Environmental Medicine at Queen Mary University of London, said: “For children with asthma and other long-term respiratory diseases, it would be prudent not to have them exercising outside on these sort of days when pollution is so high.” Toxic air blackspots can be very localised and change rapidly, clearing if winds pick up, or often worsening if more filthy fumes are belched out by growing traffic. By 8am this morning, PM2.5 levels at the worst-polluted areas had fallen below the “black” level of 100 microgrammes per cubic metre. The official advice from health chiefs is if air pollution hits “very high”, then people should: “Reduce physical exertion, particularly outdoors, especially if you experience symptoms such as cough or sore throat.” If it is “high”, then the advice is: “Anyone experiencing discomfort such as sore eyes, cough or sore throat should consider reducing activity, particularly outdoors.” Adults and children with lung and heart problems, and pensioners, are recommended to take more precautions. Father-of-two Jason Pritchard is one of a group of parents at St John Cass School leading a campaign, called We Can Win, to raise awareness about air pollution in the area. The community worker said: “We know that air pollution can damage children’s lungs and how they develop and mean they have small lungs for life. “Sadiq Khan needs to act. He needs to ban diesel cars.” Emma Chottin, 43, a mother-of-two, said it would be a “real shame” if air pollution meant children could not play outside at break time. Mayor Mr Khan is introducing a series of measures to tackle toxic air including a daily £10 “T-charge” later this year on the most polluting vehicles to drive into central London. A City Hall spokesman said on high pollution days “extra care” may be needed for children who are particularly vulnerable to its impact. A spokesman for the City of London Corporation said: “We are fully supporting Sir John Cass Primary by reducing the traffic flows around the school and through the Mayor of London’s Schools Clean Air Zones Project.”
London experienced the top level of air pollution alert on 2011 , requiring one primary school to restrict outdoor time for young children . The black “ very high ” tiny particulate pollution readings occurred in the City , Westminster and three sites in Camden . Red “ high ” alerts were also issued for 12 sites across the capital , including Brent , barking , Enfield , Greenwich , Hammersmith & Fulham , Harrow , Kensington & Chelsea , Lambeth , Lewisham , Redbridge , barking and liver ##pool . London Mayor Sadiq ##uay is introducing measures to combat toxic air pollution , including a daily £ 10 ( $ 12 ) “ T - charge ” on high - pollution vehicles in the centre of the city .