55 deaths in city linked to air pollution, says government study

DOZENS of deaths i n Dundee have been linked to air pollution following an analysis of government data.

It is estimated 55 people in the city died from longterm exposure to potentially deadly air toxin PM2.5 in 2017 – more than 3% of city deaths that year.

Dundee was superseded by Glasgow and Edinburgh when it came to poor air quality but had a higher pollution-related death rate than Aberdeen, which has a larger population.

The figures were revealed by the Centre for Cities’ annual study of the UK’s major urban areas, which took UK government data on concentrations of PM2.5 across cities in the UK, calculated the risk posed to people t hen multiplied it to give the estimated number of adult deaths linked to the toxin, including due to cardiovascular diseases, lung diseases and strokes.

Proposals are currently under way for Dundee City Council to create a lowemission zone in the city centre, meaning only vehicles that meet stringent air quality criteria would be allowed to enter.

A n d r e w L l a n wa r n e , co-ordinator at Friends of the Earth Tayside, said: “If i t wa s a n y t h i n g e l s e causing this many deaths there would be urgent action taken, but because air pollution is so insidious and often i nvisible, it’s difficult to get people to take it seriously.

“A low emission zone would be a start, although it’s taken a long time for Dundee City Council to act.

“We hope this would be followed by more initiatives such as a parkand-ride, and more promotion of walking and cycling.

“Even if they exclude high-polluting vehicles from the city centre, they can still go elsewhere in Dundee.”