KEY POINTS:
A daycare centre launched by Prime Minister Helen Clark has been blocked from opening because air quality around it is too poor - putting hundreds of others which are sited in some of the country's worst pollution corridors under scrutiny.
Three government departments are due to meet this week to discuss the impact bad air is having on early childhood centres and schools, after questions raised by the Herald on Sunday.
The meetings come after Auckland's chief medical officer Dr Denise Barnfather blocked the opening of the Jump & Jive centre in Manukau.
The centre, owned by Kidicorp, has space for 150 children but lies dormant six months after Helen Clark officially opened it because it can't pass air quality health checks.
Barnfather cited latest research showing children suffer lung damage and respiratory problems, including asthma, from being housed within 500 metres of a busy road or motorway.
Growing problems with air quality, including the projected rise of the most noxious pollutants, have made it a key issue in licensing the centres.
Barnfather said: "We have been talking to the Ministry of Education about looking at all the early childhood centres that might be at risk in the Auckland area., looking to see if it needs to be retrospective for other early childhood centres."
Ministry of Health executive manager for communicable disease and environmental health Graeme Gillespie said his ministry would meet with the Ministry for the Environment and Ministry of Education on the issue this week. Part of the meeting would be to form a response to the problem.
"The Ministry of Health is committed to contributing to an appropriate all-of-Government response to this issue. The Ministry of Health will provide advice on the health impacts and extent of the risk to health."
A spokesman said the ministry had been working with the Auckland Regional Council and Auckland Regional Public Health on the issue in the past. "However, in light of this new information, it has been considered appropriate to consider any national policy implications and look at the issue from a national perspective."
Barnfather refused to sign off on mandatory health checks after concerns about the quality of air on Great South Rd, near the Southern Motorway, costing Kidicorp $30,000 a month and putting its $1 million investment at risk.
She said there was also discussion about the impact poor air quality would have on children at schools, many of which are also built along main transit routes.
Barnfather sits on the Auckland Regional Council's land transport committee, which, last week, was presented with a review of international research showing the Queen City's air quality problems are worse than previously thought.
Council air quality manager Kevin Mahon told the committee that health impacts of pollution could be double those presented in an Environment Ministry report in July, which stated 432 people died prematurely each year through poor air quality.
Mahon also presented new evidence from overseas studies, including one that showed "a significant reduction in lung function" for children living within 500m of a motorway.
The issue is likely to pose difficulties for early childhood education because the sector faces licence reviews as part of an up-coming regulatory review.
Ministry of Education acting national operations manager Mike De'Ath said: "We will act on the advice of health authorities when licenses are renewed."
"In one case in Auckland, a centre was advised it could not be licensed because of air quality concerns. This centre has not been licensed, but more detailed environmental testing has been carried out. The Ministry of Education has not yet seen the results."
In the case of existing centres, De'Ath said the ministry responded to concerns from parents or the community whenever they were raised.
De'Ath pointed the Herald on Sunday to newly-published ministry guidelines for schools on air quality and ventilation, stating that air quality was a "consideration" in the resource.
However, the "Designing Quality Learning Spaces" guidelines make almost no reference to external pollution - and emphasise the need to have windows open, allowing "fresh air" inside.
In contrast, US health experts in California are recommending filtering or conditioning external air, and even closing down and moving schools from busy transit routes to reduce the damage children are suffering.
