Congestion charge can cut childhood asthma attacks by half

Children’s health can benefit from congestion charging schemes that limit city-centre traffic and the airborne pollution it generates. But a comparison of the congestion charges in London and Stockholm suggests the schemes only achieve this if they drive down the amount of nitrogen dioxide belched into city air by vehicles.

Emilia Simeonova of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and her colleagues tracked air pollution levels in Stockholm, Sweden from 2004 to 2010. In 2007 the city introduced a congestion charge. Levels of nitrogen dioxide fell by 5-7.5 per cent.

Nitrogen dioxide is the most harmful…