Child pollution fright

Parents face tough choices over their children's education after health authorities declared large parts of Auckland unsafe for early childcare centres because of pollution.

Concerns about health risks for young children mean new centres are unlikely to get medical approval to open within newly created "buffer zones".

Existing centres may come under pressure to move if they fall within the zones.

The zones have been created by the Auckland Regional Public Health Service. They cover areas within 300m of an industrial zone, 150m of a motorway or truck route, 100m of a petrol station and 60m of a main district road.

New childcare centres need a positive health report from the Director-General of Health when applying to the Education Ministry for a licence.

The Public Health Service carries out checks for the Director-General.

Service clinical director Julia Peters said research showed children aged 18 months and younger were especially vulnerable to the effects of pollution because their lungs were still developing.

Children within the buffer zones faced a greater risk of respiratory infections and asthma, and could suffer reduced lung function.

Those at centres near petrol stations were also at increased risk of developing childhood leukaemia because of benzine concentrations.

"My advice to parents is they take a close interest in where they are sending there children," said Peters.

Asked if she would send her children to centres inside the zones, she replied: "I'd make every effort not to."

The Auckland area has 105,000 children aged 4 and under, of which about 40,000 are in early childhood centres for an average 21 hours each week.

At least three new centres have already been refused a licence because of air-quality concerns.

Two belong to Kidicorp, a major early childhood operator with 37 centres in Auckland.

Edu Kids Manukau, originally called Jump & Jive, was unable to open in 2007 because of concerns about its location on a busy intersection near a petrol station.

It is operating on a provisional licence pending the results of air monitoring by the Health Ministry.

Kidicorp licensee Fiona Hughes said she was confident the results would show the air quality met national environmental standards set by the Environment Ministry.

The centre wrote to parents answering questions over the air quality, but parents were not alarmed.

"A lot of the feedback was 'we live down the road, so we're already in that environment'."

A second new centre on a busy road in Mt Roskill is also on hold because of pollution concerns.

Hughes was unhappy the service would assess the new centre only after $200,000 had been spent setting it up.

"Although we do take the responsibility to locate our centres in areas that are optimum, you don't always get the choice."

Hughes said other operators were also nervous about the new zones, which could affect dozens of centres.

Peters said the service was not pushing for in-zone centres to be moved immediately but that should be a medium to long-term goal. She said the air quality improved markedly immediately outside the buffer zones.

Sarah Farquhar of the Early Childhood Council was concerned the zones would panic parents unnecessarily and discourage investment in much-needed new centres.

"We are concerned about the health impact of air quality, but we don't support arbitrary no-go areas."

She said centres should have the opportunity to mitigate the effects of pollution, for example by keeping children indoors during rush hour.

And Farquhar questioned why the sector was being singled out.

"Why early childhood centres and not homes where children are spending much longer?

"Why not schools, churches, shops? If it's as damaging as the service is saying, then nobody should be given consent to build houses in these areas, and motorways shouldn't be allowed to be built near houses.

"Will it mean now that homeowners will be able to seek compensation for the fact that building consents were given for houses so close to the motorway?"