Almost a quarter of people in the UK are being exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution with potentially devastating health consequences, according to analysis.
The study by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) found that about 15 million people in the UK live in areas where average levels of PM2.5 – a tiny toxic particle that predominantly comes from vehicle emissions, wood burning and construction – exceeds guidelines set by the World Health Foundation.
Jacob West of the BHF said the scale of the problem meant the government, with its environment bill having returned to parliament last week, should make tackling air pollution in towns and cities across the country a priority.
“Tackling a public health emergency on this scale requires serious and sustained commitment,” he said. “The uncomfortable truth is that UK heart and circulatory deaths attributed to air pollution could exceed 160,000 over the next decade unless we take radical steps now.”
He said previous governments had taken bold steps such as introducing a Clean Air Act or, more recently, banning smoking to improve air quality, and called on Boris Johnson’s administration to do something similar.
“This government has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to take brave political action in cleaning up our toxic air,” he said.
Exposure to PM2.5 has serious health implications, especially for children, increasing the likelihood of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Health experts say young people exposed to these toxic pollutants are more likely to grow up with reduced lung function and develop asthma.
Other scientific studies have highlighted the long-term damage air pollution is doing to people’s health, from being linked to dementia to harming unborn babies and increasing the risk of cancer.
While PM2.5 particles come predominantly from traffic fumes, wood-burning stoves and construction, they can also come from other industrial and agricultural sources.
West said: “We can’t see them, but every day, we all breathe in tiny toxic particles which damage our heart and circulatory health. They are an invisible killer.”
The previous Conservative government’s clean air strategy was published in January 2019 but has been widely criticised by campaigners for not being bold enough.
West said: “We must not become complacent and accept that dirty air is a part of normal life. Politicians have a unique opportunity to limit the damaging effects of pollution and improve the quality of our air, and they must seize it.”
He said everyone had a role to play in demanding a healthier environment. “We are urging people to write to their MP to demand a change to the law. The more pressure we put on decision makers, the better our chances of cleaning up our air.”
