DOCUMENTARY

BLAMED Lancashire as Miriam

BBC2, 9pm It may shock you to learn that air pollution is responsible for 50,000 early deaths every year in the UK. In fact, our air pollution has been declared a public health emergency. But what can be done?

In this thought-provoking documentary, Dr Xand Van Tulleken enlists the help of some willing participants to stage the first ever large-scale experiment of its kind. He C4, 9pm

SARAH Lancashire could be eating her dinner or painting a wall for an hour, and we would still be absolutely transfixed.

wants to see if they can change the quality of the air we breathe in just one day. Crazy, right? Perhaps not. Heading to a community in Birmingham, they use various tricks to try to get the job done. But with pollution levels at the cusp of legal limits, the odds are against them.

In an interesting side plot, Xand also tries to rid himself of the effects of pollution and measures his body functions after exposure to a typical city street. The results are shocking.