Our toxic roads are ‘silent killers’
ALL boroughs exceed limits on nitrogen dioxide on the pollutants linked to 1,200 deaths in our region each year, writes
EVERY borough in Greater Manchester has broken the new air pollution limits set by the World Health Organisation.
Linked to 1,200 deaths a year in our region, nitrogen dioxide is one of a raft of air pollutants considered ‘silent killers.’
Greater Manchester is the most congested region outside London.
Along with tiny bits of dust and other contaminants coughed up in noxious exhaust fumes, nitrogen dioxide a major cause of bronchitis, asthma, heart problems and cancer.
Air pollution can damage the lungs and brains of babies while they are still in the womb and evidence shows pregnant women who breathe toxic air are more likely to give birth to premature babies and those with a low birth weight.
Until last month, the World Health Organisation (WHO) pollution limit for nitrogen dioxide - a toxic gas emitted by vehicles - was 40ug/m3.
According to transport bosses, in the week to October 17 there were around 51.6m trips on the roads around a million more than the previous week.
This means congestion in Greater Manchester is now just one per cent away from what it was before the pandemic in 2019.
And in that year, according to DEFRA figures, roads in Manchester, Tameside, Oldham, Bolton, Stockport and Trafford broke the limit.
But last month WHO moved the goalposts substantially, shifting the limit down to 10ug/m3, based on new research and evidence around the impact on people’s health and development, particularly among young children.
And now every borough in Greater Manchester has emissions above the safe limit, according to the 2019 data.
MPs have this week voted against bringing in a tougher air quality target, after it was introduced to the Environment Bill by the House of Lords.
Peers had amended the legislation to set a limit on particle pollution which would be at least as strict as World Health Organisation guidance, by 2030.
But the Commons rejected this alongside the well-documented amendment to place a duty on water companies to reduce raw sewage discharges into rivers in line with the government’s wishes.
The bill, first published in 2019, is currently going back and forth between the two Houses of Parliament.
Ministers are keen to get the bill through parliament ahead of the COP26 global climate summit beginning in Glasgow this weekend. However, in 2017 the then
Interim Mayor Tony Lloyd signed Greater Manchester (GMCA) up to the ‘BreatheLife cities pledge’ to work towards WHO limits by 2030.
The BreatheLife website states that ‘the BreatheLife Network, cities, regions, and countries have joined to demonstrate their commitment to bring air quality to safe levels by 2030 and collaborate on the clean air solutions that will help us get there faster.’
The M.E.N. has asked the GMCA if they are also committed to the new WHO limits.
On Tuesday, the M.E.N. revealed the region’s hospital admissions for children with asthma were among the highest in the country - with all but three authorities in the top 95 per cent.
In the Manchester city council region, there were 373 admissions per 100,000 of the population, compared to the national average of 192.
Oldham ranked the worst in the country, with 521 admissions per 100,000 population - nearly treble the national average.
Asthma hospital admissions are indicative of more than just pollution levels. There are many factors, including the general health of the population, access to healthcare and quality housing.
But experts believe residents’ proximity to the M60, M61, and other congested roads are a substantial part of the problem.
Harriet Edwards, head of policy at Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation, spoke to the M.E.N. ahead of the UN Climate Conference (COP26) this weekend.
She said: “Children and babies are being left behind in Greater Manchester just from where they are born.
“Environment and the air we breathe is an exacerbator of people’s situations and poor communities tend to live near the most polluted roads.
“Lung conditions are twice as high in the poorest areas compared to the richest.”
She said Greater Manchester’s ‘clean air zones,’ due to be introduced next year, were a step in the right direction, although they don’t go far enough - or as far as Birmingham or London - because they don’t include private vehicles.
She said leaders in Manchester is making ‘great strides’ toward progress in tackling pollution, but added there had been ‘considerable delays’ with clean air zones and active travel, adding: “There is a really high level of need, Greater Manchester has among the highest asthma admissions in the country, these are things that really need to be driving change.”
The M.E.N. has contacted the GMCA for comment.
in the womb and now is breathing in toxic air as a small, innocent baby.”
All but three authorities in Greater Manchester were among the worst 95 per cent in the country when it came to hospital admissions for asthma for children under nine in 2019, according to Public Health England statistics.
In the Manchester city council region, there were 373 admissions per 100,000 of the population, compared to the national average of 192.
Oldham ranked the worst in the country, with 521 admissions per 100,000 population - nearly treble the national average.
Asthma hospital admissions are indicative of more than just pollution levels. There are many factors, including the general health of the population, access to healthcare and quality housing.
Clean air campaigners argue it’s relevant that in 2019, almost two-thirds of babies born in Greater Manchester arrived into local authorities where nitrogen dioxide - a toxic gas emitted by vehicles - exceeded legal levels.
Last year, Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, a nine-year-old girl who sadly died following an asthma attack, became the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as cause of death.
She lived near the South Circular Road in Lewisham, south-east London.
Much is being done in Greater Manchester to tackle air pollution including the controversial Clean Air Zones to be launched next year.
But Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation say an ‘unfair distribution’ of air pollution is following children throughout their lives, with those least able to afford a car being the worst hit because of where they live.
They point to the clear link between deprivation and exposure to toxic air conditions.
For example, Manchester city council - considered the second most deprived local authority in England - ranked third in Greater Manchester for NO2 concentrations. The maximum annual recording in the authority reached 43.5 on the A57, exceeding the legal limit of 40.
Yet it also has the lowest proportion of households with a car or van (55pc).
Trafford meanwhile, has a lower NO2 reading, but the highest percentage of homes in Greater Manchester with a vehicle (78pc). Meanwhile, nearly a third of hospitals in England are in polluted areas - above the 2005 WHO guideline. This includes 71 maternity units.
The charities are calling for the UK Government to place improving air quality at the heart of its levelling up agenda, ensuring people can access clean air regardless of where they are born or where they live. They are urging for bolder clean air laws with targets to be met by 2030, and sufficient funding to make that happen.
They want more effective public transport and cycling, as well as expanded clean air zones.
It is terrifying that air pollution can make children so ill Julia Mironovas