50 UK towns and cities at risk from killer air pollution

NEARLY 50 towns and cities across the UK reached or broke international limits for deadly air pollution, World Health Organisation figures revealed yesterday.

Urban areas recorded or exceeded the annual average 10 micrograms per cubic metre limit of fine particles.

They penetrate deep into the lungs and cardiovascular system and are linked to strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and pneumonia.

In the UK the fine particles are largely produced by soot and traffic emissions that with other forms of air pollution have been linked to 40,000 premature deaths.

Worst

WHO said that worldwide nine out of 10 people breathe air containing high levels of pollutants.

The report was released as Asthma UK said that the country has some of the worst death rates from the condition in Europe.

Around 1,400 people died from an asthma attack in the UK in 2015 and rates increased by more than 20 per cent over the previous five years.

Between 2011 and 2015 the UK’s average asthma death rate was almost 50 per cent higher than the EU average.

The British Lung Foundation said children, people with a lung condition and the elderly are most at risk from “filthy air”.

Spokeswoman Alison Cook said: “Action to reduce the toxic particles in the air we breathe can no longer be delayed.

“How much more evidence do we need to see before the Government sets new legal limits on pollution levels to protect the nation’s lung health?”

Friends Of The Earth said that the pollution levels were recorded not just in big cities such as London, Manchester and Nottingham but also in smaller towns such as Eccles in Greater Manchester.

Spokeswoman Jenny Bates said: “As more air quality data becomes available, we are uncovering a deeply concerning number of seemingly quaint, fresh-aired places across the UK with dangerously polluted air.”

Campaigners Client Earth added: “These new statistics show a worrying level of this dangerous air pollution across the country. People shouldn’t have to breathe air on a daily basis which the WHO deems unhealthy.”

The group, which won a court case against the Government over its failure to deal with another pollutant, nitrogen oxide, is calling for a new Clean Air Act.

A spokesman said: “Ministers should commit to this now. Without it, many people across the UK will continue to pay with their health.”

However, academics played down the seriousness of UK air pollution.

Professor Anthony Frew, of Royal Sussex County Hospital, said: “Air pollution levels in the UK have declined year on year since the 1950s and we are well on track to meet our self-imposed obligations.”

Burden

Prof Kevin McConway, of The Open University, added: “While we do still need to continue to take action on air pollution in richer Western cities like London, the position is far worse in lower and middle income countries and in many other parts of the world.”

Worldwide seven million people die every year due to fine particles in indoor and outdoor air pollution. WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “Air pollution threatens us all, but the poorest and most marginalised people bear the brunt of the burden.”