Air pollution: Health impacts

across UK and Sussex

Group Leader, Air Pollution and Climate Change

Centre for Radiation, Chemical & Environmental Hazards

Dr Sotiris Vardoulakis

Environmental

Sustainability

Air

Pollution

Climate

Change

Public

Health

Outdoor Pollution Sources

• Road traffic and other means of

transport (e.g. airports, shipping)

• Industrial activities

• Energy generation

• Domestic activities

• Waste disposal

• Farming and agriculture

• Accidental releases

• Forest fires

• Pollen and other bioallergens

• Desert dust episodes

` Indoor Air Pollution Sources

• Space heating

• Cooking

• Smoking

• Building materials and

furnishings (asbestos,

flame retardants, etc.)

• Household products

(cleaning, DIY, etc.)

• Radon (from soil)

• Dampness and mould

• Pathogens (bacteria and

viruses)

Global Burden of Disease Study 2010

(Lim et al. 2012) DALYs (%)

Lower Respiratory Infections

Chronic Respiratory Disease

Cardio-vascular Disease

Cancer

European cities

exceeding pollution

limits

90% of EU city dwellers are

exposed to harmful air

pollutants, including

particulate matter and

ground-level ozone

Health aspects of air pollution

and review of EU policies

WHO-Europe international projects:

• REVIHAAP (hazard)

• HRAPIE (risk)

– To provide the European Commission and its stakeholders with evidence-based advice on the health aspects of air pollution (including those regulated in the AQ Directives).

– Results will support the revision of EU air quality policies which began in 2013. Policies will undergo cost-benefit analysis.

http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/iarcnews/pdf/pr221_E.pdf

Regulated Pollutants

Particles (PM10 and PM2.5)

Nitrogen dioxide

Ozone

Sulphur dioxide

PAH (B[a]P)

Benzene

1,3-Butadiene

Carbon monoxide

Lead

National Air Quality Strategy

Fine particles (PM2.5)

Particulate Mater:

What determines toxicity?

• Particle size? (PM10, PM2.5)

• Components?

• Elemental or organic carbon

• Metals (especially transition)

• PAHs

• Oxidative potential

• Sources?

• Primary/secondary

• Age?

Ultrafine hypothesis • Suggested that ultrafine particles may be particularly

important:

• Dominate particle number

• High surface area

• Cause local lung inflammation

• Leading to release of mediators, which alter blood

coagulability and increase risk of heart attacks

(Seaton et al. 1995)

Six US Cities: Portage (P), Topeka (T), Watertown (W), St Louis (L),

Harriman (H), Steubenville (S)

(Dockery et al. 1993)

Six Cities Study

Long-term exposure to particulate pollution

American Cancer Society study

Long-term exposure to particulate pollution

Pope et al, AJRCCM; 1995

•• 151 US metropolitan areas

• particulate air pollution was

associated with cardio-

pulmonary and lung cancer

mortality

• Increasing ambient fine

particle mass was associated

with increased mortality

COMEAP (2010) estimated the

mortality burden of human-made

particulate pollution in UK in 2008

as:

• an effect equivalent to 29,000

deaths

• a loss of 340,000 years of life

• average loss of 6 months of life

expectancy from birth

Health Burden of Particulate Pollution in UK

http://comeap.org.uk/

3.01: Fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution

5.1

5.7

5.3 5.6

5.3

4.9

5.4

5.0

5.1

4.8 5.2

5.2

4.9

4.9

4.9 5.2

England 5.5 South East 7.2 London

Fraction of mortality (%) attributable to particulate

air pollution in Sussex in 2011

• Attributable fraction, attributable deaths, years of life lost

• All local authority areas

• Guidance on estimating mortality attributable to long-term exposure to anthropogenic PM2.5 at Local Authority level

Use of the PHE report • Scope the scale of the public health problem associated with air

pollution.

• Raise awareness of the need to consider air pollution when

establishing priorities for action to improve public health locally.

• The estimates can be used within a local authority area for

comparison with health burdens from other risk factors.

• The report is not intended for the quantitative evaluation of the

health impacts of local measures to reduce air pollution.

• Comparisons of mortality burdens between local authorities are

not an appropriate basis to impute good or poor practice.

Climate Change and Health (AQEG, 2012)

PM2.5 source apportionment

(PCM model, Birmingham)

• Low Emission Zones

• Parking & stopping restrictions

• Pedestrianisation schemes

• Public transport interventions

• Park & ride schemes

• Walking and cycling

• Relocation of road space

(bus lanes, etc.)

Traffic Management

Urban Green Spaces • Create a better

environmental context

for development

• Improve air quality

• Improve flood risk

management

• Enhance biodiversity

and ecological values

• Secondary health

benefits (e.g. mental

health, physical

activity) http://www.pureframework.org/

East London Green Grid

Summary

• Multiple sources of outdoor and indoor air pollution, but

road traffic is currently the main source in the UK.

• Acute and chronic health effects of air pollutants.

• Evidence continues to grow for adverse health effects of

particles, ozone, and nitrogen dioxide at ambient levels.

• PM2.5 is the main metric for quantification of the effects of

long-term exposure to air pollution.

• Traffic management, active travel, urban greening, etc.

can bring local air quality benefits (and other public health

and climate change mitigation co-benefits)

COMEAP

Information for the public

http://www.comeap.org.uk/

Annual Air Pollution Research Review meeting

Solihull, 3-4 June 2014

sotiris.vardoulakis@phe.gov.uk

Acknowledgements

• APCC group members, particularly Alison Gowers

• COMEAP members, particularly Frank Kelly, Fintan Hurley,

Brian Miller, John Stedman, Bob Maynard and Heather Walton