A study into the links between air pollution and vitamin D deficiency, and their impact on the respiratory health of children has received a new million pound grant.

The research looking at the effects on east London children has received £1.2 million from the National Institute for Health Research comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre at Guy's and St Thomas' and King's College London.

Professor Tak Lee, from King's College London, who is leading the study said: "There is increasing evidence that vitamin D deficiency and pollution play a role in poor lung health, but little is currently known about their combined effects and the changes that take place in the lungs themselves.

"This major research programme should help us find the answers."

Researchers claim nearly 90 per cent of the UK population lacks adequate levels of vitamin D, especially during the winter.

Rates are even higher in the eastern parts of the capital, with over 18 per cent of children in east London having been diagnosed with asthma.

The EXHALE programme, (Exploration of Health and Lungs in the Environment) undertaken by researchers and clinicians working in the comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre, the MRC-Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma, and Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry involves children from east London, who researchers believe are most at risk from the negative effects of pollution on respiratory health.

As part of the research children from Tower Hamlets attending schools located close to main roads will be studied to define the effects of traffic emission reduction, using comparative pollution and respiratory health data from before the introduction of the capital's Low Emission Zone.

Professor Chris Griffiths from Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, said: "We are focusing on children because damage done to their lungs by traffic pollution almost certainly persists, and makes lifelong lung problems - and possibly early death - more likely.

"By measuring childrens' breathing and lung inflammation over several years and gathering genetic information, we will be able to establish links between respiratory health problems, pollution exposure and the role of genetic susceptibility."

The study will see experts investigate how air pollutants and vitamin D deficiency interact to enhance airway inflammation, and aim to identify new ways to investigate airway inflammation using imaging techniques.

The authors claim their findings will help to inform government policies nationally and internationally as well as answer important questions about asthma. These include the role of genetic factors, and how pollutants deposit in the lungs and damage respiratory cells.

Dr Elaine Vickers, research relations manager, Asthma UK adds: "This research aims to shed light on how two major environmental factors: pollution and sunlight, affect the development of asthma in children from a range of different ethnic backgrounds.

"As the UK has one of the highest rates of childhood asthma in the world, with over a million children currently receiving treatment, this could have major implications for government environmental policies in the future."


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