The natural health service Scotland’s dear green places help clean up pollution and save NHS £59m every year

PLANTS and trees are helping to save the Scottish NHS £11.02 per person by getting rid of pollutants in the air.

Figures for pollutants removed from the air by vegetation in 2015 show greenery in Scotland removed 426,500,000 kg.

The value of avoided health costs in Scotland due to the removal of these pollutants was £59.2million – an average of £11.02 per person for illnesses such as asthma, heart disease and bronchitis.

Dumfries and Galloway saw the most saved per person, £14.55, from the removal of 41.6million kg of pollutants. In the Highlands, 128.8million kg was removed – but with a smaller population this was worth just £7.68 per person. In Glasgow, 413,000 kg of pollutants were removed by vegetation in 2015, saving £11.92 per person, while in Edinburgh, 1.1million kg were removed, saving £10.47 per person.

Overall, an estimated 1.4billion kg of air pollutants, including 21.6million kg of the most harmful PM2.5 pollutants, were removed by vegetation in the UK in 2015, according to the study by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

However, more than five times as much PM2.5 – created by diesel and petrol cars, power plants and domestic heating – was emitted than was removed by vegetation. Scottish Greens MSP Alison Johnstone said: “The value of trees and green spaces to health is clear but we should be preventing air pollution in the first place by investing in streets that are safer for walking and cycling. As the World Health Organisation have said, air pollution is the single biggest preventable health risk we face.”

Meanwhile, researchers have found people exposed to air pollution levels well within UK guidelines have changes in the heart similar to those seen in the early stages of heart failure.

Dr Nay Aung, who led the data analysis, said: “People need to be aware of pollution exposure when they think about their heart health.”