CHILL is a research study that aims to find out whether reducing air pollution from traffic is good for children’s health. We are particularly interested in whether interventions to reduce air pollution can improve children’s lung growth and respiratory symptoms, activity levels and brain function.
The CHILL study started in 2018 and has made tremendous progress following our cohort for the last four years over 85 primary schools in London and Luton. However, due to COVID-related disruptions, we missed a year of data collection, so the study was extended for an extra year and finished in the summer of 2023. In December 2024, we received funding to extend the study for an additional year of data collection in 2025, with participants now all in secondary schools.
Since starting, the CHILL study has expanded, and we are exploring how air pollution in childhood leaves markers on genes that reflect pollution levels over time and how air pollution can impact our cognition and mental health. We also started to check for COVID-19 antibodies and measure exposure to heavy metals for those who consent.
In our our third year of follow up, we carried out data collection with Year 7s during the summer term (as well as a small number of Year 8s, who were among the first children to participate in the CHILL Study in June 2018). We also returned in 2022-23, for our last round of data collection, when the children moved up to Year 7 and Year 8.
Thank you to all the children, parents, teachers, and headteachers for making this study a success for the last 5 years! It was a pleasure to see the children year after year. Now, we are excited to finish analysing the data, sharing results soon, and restarting school visits in 2025.