{"id":538,"date":"2025-01-11T10:49:28","date_gmt":"2025-01-11T10:49:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southwest-environmental.co.uk\/blog\/?p=538"},"modified":"2025-02-03T11:54:50","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T11:54:50","slug":"what-does-nitrogen-dioxide-do-to-childrens-lungs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southwest-environmental.co.uk\/blog\/2025\/01\/11\/what-does-nitrogen-dioxide-do-to-childrens-lungs\/","title":{"rendered":"What does Nitrogen Dioxide do to Children&#8217;s Lungs?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>What does Nitrogen Dioxide do to Children&#8217;s Lungs?<\/h1>\n<p>For those tempted by the populist media in to believing that ULEZ is a restriction on their freedoms, they must surely live in ignorance of the scientific evidence that proves how tailpipe emissions including nitrogen dioxide are permanently damaging children&#8217;s lungs.<\/p>\n<h2>Nitrogen Dioxide an Acid in the Making<\/h2>\n<p>Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) can contribute to the acidification of children&#8217;s lungs. Here&#8217;s how:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Formation of Nitric Acid: When NO2 interacts with moisture in the lungs, it can react to form nitric acid.<\/li>\n<li>Acidic Environment: Nitric acid is a strong acid. Its presence in the lungs can disrupt the delicate balance of the lung&#8217;s environment, making it more acidic.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why is lung acidification harmful?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Damage to Lung Tissue: An acidic environment can damage the delicate tissues of the lungs, leading to inflammation and irritation.<\/li>\n<li>Impaired Lung Function: Acidification can interfere with the normal functioning of lung cells, affecting their ability to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide effectively.<\/li>\n<li>Increased Susceptibility to Infections: An acidic environment can weaken the lung&#8217;s defenses against infections, making individuals more vulnerable to respiratory illnesses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How does acidification of the lung affect children?<\/h2>\n<p>Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is one of a number of pollutants that can lower <a href=\"https:\/\/www.southwest-environmental.co.uk\/further%20info\/environmental_impact_assessment\/air_quality_climate_impact_assessment.html\">air quality<\/a> harmful air pollutant that can have several negative effects on children&#8217;s lungs:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Respiratory Infections: NO2 can irritate the lungs and make children more susceptible to respiratory infections like colds, flu, and pneumonia.<\/li>\n<li>Asthma: Children with asthma are particularly sensitive to NO2. Exposure can trigger asthma attacks, worsen symptoms, and even lead to the development of asthma in some cases.<\/li>\n<li>Impaired Lung Development: Studies suggest that long-term exposure to NO2 may impair lung development in children, potentially leading to reduced lung function and increased respiratory problems later in life.<\/li>\n<li>Increased Hospitalizations: Children exposed to high levels of NO2 are more likely to be hospitalized for respiratory problems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>So why do people object to ULEZ?<\/h2>\n<p>There various instance of Low Emission Zone expansion that have become very contentious across the country , but given the above evidence why is this the case? Surely protecting the health of children, particular given that residual effects of impaired lung development can last a lifetime?<\/p>\n<p>This is down to the politicisation of issue, any populist will use a wedge issue such as this to drive division and hopefully pick up more votes in the process.<\/p>\n<p>So my main two take outs from NO2 \/ Children&#8217;s lung post is a psychological \/ political ones, what is the depth of the cognitive dissonance in:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Our leaders (ex PM Sunak, Truss etc) that they can speak out against ULEZ, on economic grounds fueling the divided and playing into the hands of populist media.<\/li>\n<li>The blinkered reader of the populist press. That they look at just one part of of the problem (ULEZ charge \/ Inconvenience) and via their sense of entitlement decry ULEZ as an attack on their freedoms, following the narrative of populist politician and media. . . . whilst ignoring the\u00a0 very real and long lasting impacts that their driving habits have on the their children&#8217;s and grandchildren&#8217;s lungs!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>References<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/ije\/article-abstract\/42\/6\/1724\/737113\">Meta-analysis of the effects of indoor nitrogen dioxide and gas cooking on asthma and wheeze in children<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wwwn.cdc.gov\/TSP\/MMG\/MMGDetails.aspx?mmgid=394&amp;toxid=69#:~:text=Chronic%20exposure%20to%20nitrogen%20oxides,of%20respiratory%20infections%20in%20children.\">Medical Management Guidelines for Nitrogen Oxides<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/21177840\/#:~:text=There%20is%20growing%20evidence%20that,))%20emitted%20from%20unflued%20gas\">The respiratory health effects of nitrogen dioxide in children with asthma<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What does Nitrogen Dioxide do to Children&#8217;s Lungs? For those tempted by the populist media in to believing that ULEZ is a restriction on their freedoms, they must surely live in ignorance of the scientific evidence that proves how tailpipe emissions including nitrogen dioxide are permanently damaging children&#8217;s lungs. Nitrogen Dioxide an Acid in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-air-quality"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southwest-environmental.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southwest-environmental.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southwest-environmental.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southwest-environmental.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southwest-environmental.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/southwest-environmental.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":540,"href":"https:\/\/southwest-environmental.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538\/revisions\/540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southwest-environmental.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southwest-environmental.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southwest-environmental.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}