About 3,000 schools in UK located in polluted areas

Media reports says about three thousand schools across the UK are based in areas with potentially dangerous levels of air pollution.

According to The Sunday Times, the schools are situated in areas where the annual nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas emissions exceed 25 tons per square kilometer, or six times the national average.

This comes as the Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has described NO2 as a “respiratory irritant which may exacerbate asthma and possibly increase susceptibility to infection.”

The Times also noted that in one primary school near Heathrow Airport, more than 200 tons of NO2 are released annually, the Times has found following an analysis of Defra data.