Scotland’s MSPs Urged to Back Pilot Programme for Air Pollution Monitoring Around Schools
29 May 2026
Scotland’s MSPs Urged to Back Pilot Programme for Air Pollution Monitoring Around Schools
The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (the “RCPE”) is urging Scotland’s MSPs in the new session of Parliament to support a national pilot programme to monitor air pollution around city primary schools, following compelling evidence that Scottish children may be exposed to harmful levels of pollution that are currently going unmeasured.
The proposal, led by the RCPE’s Air Pollution Working Group, calls for a pilot study to look at air quality around schools by installing of air quality monitors around three schools in each of four major Scottish cities — Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen — over a minimum period of one year. This duration is essential to capture seasonal variation and provide reliable, policy-relevant data.
The RCPE is urging MSPs from all of Scotland’s political parties to press Ministers in the new Scottish Government to support the pilot.
Why the pilot is required
Scotland rightly prides itself on having some of the cleanest air in the world and among the strongest air quality standards in Europe. Low Emission Zones and investment in cleaner public transport have delivered real progress. However, new evidence shows that harmful health effects occur at pollution levels below current Scottish targets, particularly for children — prompting the World Health Organization to issue significantly tighter Global Air Quality Guidelines in 2021.
Despite this, pilot mapping carried out by the RCPE reveals a stark gap: air quality is rarely monitored near schools. Across five Scottish cities, over 60% of primary and secondary schools are more than one kilometre from the nearest air quality monitor. Only one primary school was found to be within 50 metres of a particulate matter monitor. The Air Pollution Working Group’s research has now been published in the BMJ Public Health Journal. (1)
Professor Jill Belch OBE, Co-chair of the College’s Air Pollution Working Group, said:
This is a blind spot in our public health system. We know that children are more vulnerable than adults to air pollution, yet we are failing to measure what they are breathing during the school day.
Why schools matter
Schools are often located near busy roads and junctions. Pollution levels are intensified by the ‘school run’, idling vehicles, and congestion during drop-off and pick-up times. Vehicle emissions release nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀), pollutants known to damage the lungs, heart, brain, immune system and metabolic health of children.
Robust UK and international evidence links air pollution exposure in childhood to:
- impaired lung growth and increased asthma risk
- effects on brain development, cognition, behaviour and educational attainment
- higher blood pressure and early markers of cardiovascular disease
- increased hospital admissions, with over 1,000 excess child admissions per year in Scotland on high-pollution days
These harms are not evenly distributed. Children from more deprived communities are more likely to attend schools in areas with higher pollution, compounding existing health inequalities and environmental injustice.
A practical, affordable pilot with national impact
The proposed pilot would deploy proven Airly air quality monitors within 50 metres of selected schools, measuring NO₂, PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ continuously for 12 months. The project would be delivered in partnership with local authorities and an experienced UK environmental consultancy, ensuring data quality, transparency and independence.
Crucially, the programme includes a citizen science and education component, enabling pupils to engage with real-time data, understand pollution’s health effects, and influence behaviour change such as reducing engine idling and encouraging active travel.
Because the project spans four cities rather than a single neighbourhood, it falls outside traditional community or charity funding models — making political leadership and public investment essential.
Strong professional and workforce backing
The proposal has received full endorsement from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and the teachers’ union NASUWT.
Mike Corbett, National Official, NASUWT Scotland stated:
Being able to quantify the scale of the problem around our schools is the first step to cleaning up the air our children breathe and moving towards a healthier and safer future. NASUWT is therefore very pleased to endorse and support this proposal.
A clear call to action
The data generated by this pilot would directly inform local and national decision-making, guiding targeted interventions such as no-idling zones, low-traffic streets, cleaner school transport, greening measures and safer routes for walking and cycling. The findings would be reported to the Scottish Parliament’s Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, local councils, schools and the public.
In light of recent European human rights rulings recognising that failure to address environmental pollution can violate the right to life, the case for action is both moral and legal.
Professor Belch said:
There is overwhelming evidence that air pollution harms children — often permanently. What Scotland currently lacks is the data around schools to act decisively. This pilot programme is a modest, affordable step that could deliver lifelong health benefits for our children and reduce entrenched inequalities.
Professor Mark Strachan, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and Co-chair of the College’s Air Pollution Working Group, said:
The College has serious concerns at the lack of data on air quality levels around urban schools and considers that this gap must be addressed as a priority. Our Air Pollution Working Group has worked hard to develop a practical and affordable pilot proposal for air quality monitoring around urban schools and I hope that this can be supported by all of our political parties in Scotland. It is extremely important that we have an evidence base for mitigation where that is required given the serious impacts poor air quality can have on the health of our children and young people.
Scotland’s MSPs are now being asked to show leadership — and ensure that every child has the right to breathe clean air at school.
---
Share:
