Pioneering project to improve indoor air quality for children with respiratory conditions

Article date: 26 March 2025

Led by St Helens Borough Council and funded by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Healthy Air for Healthy Lungs is making a real difference in the lives of families most affected by poor air quality.

Families are provided with an indoor air quality monitor, which will check how healthy the air inside their home is, and simple guidance on how to improve their home environment, as well as a £50 Love to Shop voucher for taking part.

The 'Healthy Air for Healthy Lungs' programme - one of the first of its kind in the UK - focuses on households with children aged 2-10 with respiratory conditions or who have been prescribed three salbutamol inhalers in a year.

The monitors can identify changes in a range of air quality factors, including temperature, humidity, virus risk, carbon dioxide, volatile organic compound (VOC) levels from paint, and more.

96% of households have at least one type of indoor air quality issue; from excessive dust or moisture, tobacco smoke, high humidity, emissions from cleaning products, plug-in room fragrances, candle burning and building materials. Colder months present an additional challenge as families balance ventilation with heating needs.

Delivered by the St Helens Wellbeing team (City Health Care Partnership), participating households receive ongoing support over a minimum of six months, including further interventions such as air purifiers.

Since the first monitors were installed in July 2024, the project has surpassed its target of 150 monitors in St Helens Borough, and a waiting list now established for new applications.

Register your interest at: https://www.sthelenswellbeing.org.uk/services/health-checks/pages/healthy-air-for-healthy-lungs

In one participating home in Thatto Heath, 4 year-old Arabella suffers from asthma, with the condition impacting her life in a big way. Responding to the study, mum Jade, 29, commented: "We didn't know about indoor air quality before joining the Healthy Air for Healthy Lungs programme. But after the assessment we ventilated more, adjusted our heating and made sure that we didn't use as many cleaning products - in our daughter's room especially.

"I know if my daughter's asthma is flaring up it's usually reflected on the monitor and after a few minor changes she quickly settles again. Since having the air quality monitor, we haven't had to visit the hospital once with asthma flare ups or chest infections and we've noticed that she doesn't need to use her blue inhaler as much. It's been instrumental to us in managing her asthma symptoms and she's been able to enjoy being a child without worrying about an asthma attack in the middle of the night."

Ruth du Plessis, St Helens Borough Council's Director of Public Health, said: "Air quality affects us all to some extent, but for some families it presents real health risks. We're leading the way in our efforts to improve indoor air quality for local families with our innovative Healthy Air for Healthy Lungs programme.

"Early feedback and data have been really promising, showing us that families are adopting air quality improvements as 'a new way of life,' being more mindful of how they cook, clean, heat and ventilate their homes. It's clearly having a dramatic and positive impact on the health of young children, with reduced need for inhalers and fewer hospital visits recorded by parents and guardians.

"We're also working with Edge Hill University to evaluate the data which we hope will serve as a strong evidence base for further research and studies."

Everyone can benefit from making cleaner air decisions in the home by:

• Using fragrance-free, milder cleaning products and avoiding plug-in fragrances.
• Choosing safer paints and varnishes labelled 'low VOC' (volatile organic compounds) when decorating.
• Making your home smoke and vape free.
• Reducing home burning as much as possible (e.g. log burners, coal fires or candles).
• Ventilating your home - open windows and use extractor fans when cooking or using cleaning products, but close windows near busy roads during rush hours.