A NEW Climate Council report has revealed one in six schools and child care centres in capital cities are exposed to air pollution from busy roads, heightening the risks of asthma and respiratory conditions.
Newcastle GP and Doctors for the Environment advocate Dr Ben Ewald said air pollution is a big issue in the Hunter and increasing illnesses in children have been linked to its impact.
"There is research on the bad effects of traffic related air pollution on children in terms of lung function and asthma," he said.
"There is also some worrying research - not fully confirmed - pointing to slower learning rates at school. If it's true, it's very worrying."
The data found 827 schools and more than 2300 child care centres across cities like Sydney and Melbourne are in within 100 metres of a busy road.
About 20 per cent of child care centres are the most likely to be located near a busy road, followed by secondary schools (17 per cent), and primary schools (15 per cent).
Dr Ewald said for people living near power stations, or in the Upper Hunter they are exposed to coal, oil and gas particles. While people living in cities receive most of their exposure from vehicle pollution.
"In terms of particle pollution Muswellbrook has often had the worst pollution in the state, which is a combination of dust and mining and diesel exhaust from all the mining machinery," he said.
"The most direct health impacts are respiratory disease and people exposed to both particles and nitrogen oxide, but there are also a lot of other worrying examples where particle pollution increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and lung cancer."
He said it was scary to think about how the current situation may be viewed in the future.
"If you're trying to explain it to your grandchildren... I think they're going to be incredulous that you used to be walking down the street and people would drive past in machines and spewing out toxic air pollution - and that was just an acceptable part of how we lived," he said.
Climate Council CEO, Amanda McKenzie said air pollution is "insidious and kills more than three times as many Australians as traffic accidents".
"Burning coal, oil and gas releases toxins and climate pollution that is harming our health and creating havoc in the environment. Our kids deserve to breathe clean air," she said.
"We already have about 40 per cent of renewables powering our country, accelerating renewables and phasing out polluting cars and fossil fuels is crucial to cutting air and climate pollution this decade."
