Air Pollution: The Invisible Killer

The right to breatheclean air is fundamental

Thousands of lives in the South East are being shortened because air is heavily polluted in many places, mostly by traffic.

This guide to air pollution explains what it is, what causes it and what can be done to reduce it. Recently published government data highlights that each year air pollution contributes to over 200,000 premature deaths in the UK. This is an invisible public health crisis.

As the Green MEP for South East England I believe this growing problem needs to be tackled at every level of government, from local councils to parliaments in Westminster and Brussels. Greens are working hard to put pressure on the UK government to meet EU laws on air quality.

On the European Parliament’s Transport & Tourism committee I am working to promote a shift to more environmentally friendly ways of getting about.

While transport is recognised as an essential part of our modern economy and life, how we manage and arrange travel and the transporting of goods does provide opportunities to reduce pollution. The stakes are high and the time for action is now.

In your community: Find out about air pollution in your local area. Campaign for more information about air pollution and its impacts. Call for more action from your council and the government to improve air quality.

Local councils: Provide more public information about air pollution. Encourage people to use public transport. Make local public transport cleaner. Ensure that new developments consider air pollution. Reduce congestion.

Government: Take action to meet EU laws on air quality. Improve public awareness of air pollution. Support more research into the health impacts of air pollution. Work to reduce transport emissions and other pollutants.

Keith TaylorGreen MEP for South East England

How can I reduce air pollution in my local area?

Individual action can make a big difference to levels of air pollution.

Demand more information on air quality in your area. Ask your local authority if they have any ‘Air Quality Management Areas’ and ask to see the ‘Air Quality Action Plan’.

Campaign for cleaner air. Write to your councillor, MP and MEP to ask them what’s being done to cut air pollution in your area. Talk to your local authority to find out what the main sources of air pollution are locally and form a residents’ action group to campaign for cleaner air.

Reduce emissions from your home. A highly insulated home is a low emission home. If you live in a polluted urban area then don’t burn solid fuels such as wood, as they produce much more pollution than a natural gas central heating boiler.

If you need to drive, drive a low emissions car. Use a petrol car rather than a diesel car as they have lower emissions of local air pollutants. Hybrid or electric cars are even better as they have very low emissions.

If you’re buying a second-hand car check which ‘Euro’ emission standard it meets—the higher the better. Some cars now have ‘stop-start’ operation, which means that they turn their engine off when they’re at a standstill and produce no emissions at all!

Is air pollution linked to climate change?

Yes2 many air pollutants are ‘climate active’ meaning they have a significant warming effect on our climate.

Ozone at ground level is also a potent greenhouse gas. Unlike carbon dioxide these pollutants have a short life in our atmosphere—if emissions are reduced concentrations in the air fall quickly.

Reducing emissions of these pollutants is therefore a quick and effective means of tackling climate change. Climate change also has a direct impact on air pollution, and a warmer climate will mean more high pollution episodes for the UK.

2 See ‘Air Quality and Climate Change:A UK Perspective’, Air Quality Expert Group 2007www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/air/air-quality/ committees/ageg/publish

Printed on 100% recycled paper

Where can I get more information on air pollution?

Official air pollution information from the UK government is available from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: uk-air.defra.gov.uk

Find out about European air quality policy from the European Commission: ec.europa.eu/environment/air

The charity Environmental Protection UK has lots of information about air pollution, including printable leaflets:environmental-protection.org.uk

The Energy Saving Trust can provide advice about how you can make your home more energy efficient: energysavingtrust.org.uk

If you’re buying a second-hand car find out which ‘Euro’ emission standard it meets. The higher the number the better: carfueldata.direct.gov.uk

KeithTaylorMEP.org.uk

How does air pollution affect our health?

Air pollution is an invisible public health crisis. Long term exposure to air pollution is associated with heart and lung disease.

29,000 deaths in 2008 were attributable to long term exposure to the pollutant PM2.5, but experts also believe that long term exposure to particulate matter contributes to over 200,000 premature deaths each year. Air pollution has a greater health impact than many of our high profile health challenges such as passive smoking and obesity.

Children can be particularly vulnerable to the impacts of air pollution. Research1

has shown that children growing up near motorways can suffer permanently reduced lung capacity.

Even those who live and work in areas with clean air can have their health affected when they visit a polluted area as short term exposure to air pollution can irritate our airways, causing wheezing and shortness of breath. This is particularly a problem for those with existing respiratory conditions, such as asthma.

1 California Environmental Protection Agency, Air Resources Boardwww.arb.ca.gov/research/chs/chs.htm

How can we tackle air pollution?

The good news is that air pollution is something that is within our grasp to tackle.

Firm action by national government, local government and individuals can reduce air pollution and improve public health.

The main areas for local and national government to take action are:

Change the way we travel. Encouraging people to use buses and trains instead of private cars can significantly cut air pollution. Old buses can have very high air pollutantemissions so it’s essential that modern bus fleets are used to reduce pollution. Schemes such as workplace green travel plans and car sharing can help reduce traffic. Walking and cycling have no emissions at all and are good for your health!

Reduce the demand for travel. Improving high speed internet connections would make it easier for people to work from home and can help people reduce the amount of travelling they need to do.

Introduce Low Emission Zones. High emission vehicles, such as older lorries and diesel cars, should be prevented from entering city centres or polluted areas or be penalised for doing so.

Use the planning system to improve air quality. Good planning policies can reduce the need for people to travel, and help reduce people’s exposure by separating people from highly polluted areas. Better transport planning should be used to reduce traffic congestion.

Raise public awareness of air pollution. In order to tackle air pollution, and to protect their health, people need to know how bad the air is in their area. Digital displays in city centres, alert systems and inclusion of air pollution warnings in weather forecasts would help raise awareness of the problem and the dangers.

Better air across Europe

The European Union has assessed the health evidence and set legally binding standards for twelve common air pollutants and a date by which the target has to be met.

The UK government has incorporated these standards into a set of Air Quality Objectives and an Air Quality Strategy (last reviewed in 2007) which sets out how the government plans to meet the EU targets. If the UK breaks the EU laws the government will be fined. Under current coalition government plans to devolve power to local authorities, councils could even be forced to pay these fines. This would cause some councils to pay for problems which they did not create and would therefore be unjust and unworkable.

Laws are also in place to regulate sources of air pollution. All new vehicles must conform to ‘Euro’ emission standards which set maximum emissions of several air pollutants. Other laws include air pollution regulation for industry and power generation, conditions on burning wood and coal in the home and product standards for items such as central heating boilers.

Air Quality Action Plans

All borough, district and unitary local authorities in the UK are legally required to review and assess air quality in their area.

If any EU standards are being exceeded, or are unlikely to be met by the required date, then that area should be designated an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA).

The local authority must then draw up and implement an Air Quality Action Plan to outline how it aims to reduce levels of the pollutant. Local authorities are not required to ensure the standards are met, as some sources of pollution are outside of their control, but they do need to ‘work towards’ the standards.

Why are we worried about air pollution?

Clean air is one of the fundamental things we need in order to enjoy good health and quality of life.

Unfortunately in many parts of the UK our air is often polluted with harmful toxic substances, mainly caused by lorries and cars and by burning fuels in our homes and industry. Air pollution is an invisible killer. Toxic substances can cause ill health, worsen the symptoms of respiratory conditions, such as asthma, and can ultimately cause premature death.

The highest levels of air pollution are in urban areas, where most of the UK population lives and works. Many air pollutants also have a significant warming effect on our climate and improving air quality could help to reduce global warming.

Experts believe that long term exposure to particulate matter contributes to over 200,000 premature deaths each year.

Where does air pollution come from?

Road traffic is the biggest source of air pollution in most areas.

Cars, lorries, vans and buses emit large amounts of air pollution directly into the streets where we live and work. As the pollution is emitted close to the ground there is little chance for it to disperse before we breathe it in. Tiny particles released when tyres and break pads wear down can also contribute towards high concentrations of a pollutant called ‘Particulate Matter (PM)’.

Burning fuels can also produce air pollution. Heating boilers, power generation and industry burning coal, oil, wood, petrol, diesel and natural gas are all significant sources of air pollution.

p Air Pollution Monitoring Station.Photography by London Permaculture

p Low emission zone in London.Photography by Leo Reynolds

Campaigning for cleaner air in Canterbury

Earlier this year the ‘Canterbury for Clean Air’ campaign group was formed.

Cyclists, community groups and people concerned about climate change have come together to work on a new green transport plan for Canterbury. Air pollution is bad in several places in the historic city centre.

The group is working to raise awareness of air pollution, encourage more people to adopt cycling as an alternative mode

of transport, reduce the number of cars in the city centre and to bring air pollution levels down.

Air Pollution in London and the South East

Clean green buses in Lille, France

The French city of Lille knew that its diesel buses were a major source of air pollution.

In 1999 Lille took the decision to replace all of their diesel buses with new vehicles running on clean burning Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). Compared to even the most modern diesel buses CNG has 90% lower emissions of particulate matter and 50% lower emissions of nitrogen oxides5.

CNG buses are common in many parts of the world, but Lille decided to take the process one step further by running the buses off the city’s rubbish using a type of CNG know as biomethane. Rather than leaving organic waste to rot in

landfills it is now taken to a new Organic Recovery Centre where it is converted into biomethane and fertiliser using a process known as anaerobic digestion. The centre produces enough gas to run over 100 buses.

In addition to reducing air pollution the biomethane buses also hugely reduce Lille’s greenhouse gas emissions as the organic waste would otherwise rot in landfill releasing methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the air.

More information: biogasmax.eu

5 Source: London Borough of Camdencamden.gov.uk/ccm/content/environment/air-quality-and-pollution/air-quality/research.en?page=5

Alerting people to poor air quality in Sussex

Some people are especially sensitive to air pollution–the elderly, young children and people with existing respiratory conditions, such as asthma, can all suffer when air pollution levels rise.

The local authority partnership in Sussex (www.sussex-air.net) have developed the airAlert service to warn these people when air pollution levels are forecast to increase. The service provides a “free” warning of pollution events via text messages, email or phone calls.

The alerts provide information so that users can manage their health condition by avoiding areas where air pollution levels will be high or manage their medication to protect themselves.

The scheme was launched in 2006 and it has been a great success, with 67% of airAlert users reporting that they modified their behaviour to reduce the risk to their health.

airAlert operates across Sussex, Southampton, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, and a similar scheme know as airText is in operation across Greater London, Liverpool and Wakefield.

For more information visit:airalert.info and airtext.info

Low Emission Zones in Oxford and Reading

A Low Emission Zone (LEZ) is an area where only vehicles that meet a certain air quality standard are allowed to enter.

The zone can apply to all vehicles, or only certain classes of vehicles, such as heavy goods vehicles and buses. ln Europe LEZs are quite common–in Germany over 20 cities have established them. In the UK the number is small but growing. The biggest and best known LEZ in the UK covers the whole of Greater London; this currently applies to larger vehicles such as buses and lorries and is only for particulate matter emissions.

Oxford is planning to set up a smaller, targeted LEZ for buses, following the example set by Norwich. Reading has identified heavy goods vehicles as a major source of air pollution emissions in the town, and is introducing an LEZ aimed at these vehicles. The UK government is investigating the feasibility of establishing a national framework for LEZs which would make the process of setting up an LEZ easier for local authorities.

For more information visit: lowemissionzones.eu

London: the worst air in Europe?

Pollution levels in London are the highest of anywhere in the UK, and amongst the highest in Europe. This affects the health of everyone who lives and works in the city.

In 2010 a health study3, commissioned by the Mayor of London, estimated that nearly 4,300 Londoners die prematurely every year due to long term exposure to PM2.5 pollution alone. The congestion charge and the London Low Emission Zone have helped to reduce pollution, but unfortunately do not go far enough.

In recent years the Mayor of London has scrapped the Western Extension to the congestion charge zone and delayed the introduction of a third phase of the London Low Emission Zone.

In 2009 Green Party London Assembly Member, Darren Johnson chaired an investigation into air quality in the city4. Darren and his fellow Assembly member, Jenny Jones, and the Green MEP for London, Jean Lambert, have been putting pressure on the Mayor and the UK government to make sure London complies with European and national air quality laws.

3 www.london.gov.uk/publication/mayors-draft-air-quality-strategy4 Every Breath You Take: An investigation into air quality in London, May 2009

Major air pollutants

Which parts of the UK suffer from air pollution?

The biggest air pollution problems are experienced in town and city centres and close to major sources of pollution, such as busy roads. As the UK’s biggest, busiest city London has the worst air quality in the UK.

In the South East cities such as Southampton, Brighton, Oxford, Portsmouth and Canterbury all have significant air pollution problems. Air pollution is not just confined to big urban areas; many smaller towns also suffer. Problems are often made worse where congested traffic runs through narrow streets flanked by tall buildings. This creates ‘street canyons’ where air pollution becomes trapped and builds up to dangerous levels.

The UK has national air quality targets, based on the European Union’s legally binding standards for twelve common air pollutants and deadlines for meeting them. If air pollution exceeds these targets, set to protect our health, then the local authority is required to declare an ‘Air Quality Management Area’.

The map on the right shows which local authorities have declared an Air Quality Management Area for one or more pollutants. The management area will cover part, or sometimes all, of the local authority area.

Air pollution is not just a problem in these hot spot areas. Background concentrations of pollutants, such as fine particulate matter, can be quite high across whole urban areas. Particulate matter has no safe level for human exposure—it is damaging to health at any concentration in the air, and the health impacts are therefore significant. Ozone is a long lived pollutant that is blown about by the wind. Ozone which is formed in towns and cities is often blown into rural areas, where it also has a major health impact.

Map showing air pollution in London and the South East

p Biomethane bus operating in Lille. Photograph by mwanasimba

local authorities that have declared an ‘Air Quality Management Area’ for one or more pollutants.

Pollutant

Particulate Matter (PM). Tiny particles of pollution that are absorbed deep into our lungs.

Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2). Brownish gas.

Ozone (O3) (ground level). The principal component of a classic summer ‘smog’. It is a long lived pollutant and can be blown by the wind for many miles so levels of ozone can be very high in rural areas.

Source

Road transport (mainly diesel vehicles), power stations, domestic boilers.

Road transport, domestic boilers, power stations and industry.

Produced when sunlight reacts with pollutants from vehicles and industrial emissions.

Health Effect

In the UK particulate matter has the greatest impact on our health of any air pollutant. It can cause heart and lung disease, and ultimately premature death in those who are already ill.

A respiratory irritant which can cause particular problems to people with existing respiratory issues, such as asthma.

A respiratory irritant that causes inflammation of the airways. Long term exposure can be very damaging to people’s health.

p Adapted from table in Every Breath You Take: An investigation into air quality in London, GLA, 2009

Key local authorities without an ‘Air Quality Management Area’.

p The Canterbury for Clean Air team

Berkshire01. Bracknell Forest 02. Reading03. Slough04. West Berkshire05. Windsor &

Maidenhead06. Wokingham

Buckinghamshire07. Aylesbury Vale08. Chiltern09. Milton Keynes10. South Bucks11. Wycombe

East Sussex12. Brighton & Hove13. Eastbourne14. Hastings15. Lewes16. Rother17. Wealden

Greater London18. Greater London

Hampshire19. Basingstoke & Deane 20. East Hampshire21. Eastleigh22. Fareham23. Gosport

24. Hart25. Havant26. New Forest27. Portsmouth28. Rushmoor29. Southampton30. Test Valley31. Winchester

Isle of Wight32. Isle of Wight

Kent33. Ashford34. Canterbury35. Dartford36. Dover37. Gravesham38. Maidstone39. Medway40. Sevenoaks41. Shepway42. Swale43. Thanet44. Tonbridge & Malling45. Tunbridge Wells

Oxfordshire46. Cherwell 47. Oxford48. South Oxfordshire49. Vale of White Horse50. West Oxfordshire

Surrey51. Elmbridge52. Epsom & Ewell53. Guildford54. Mole Valley 55. Reigate & Banstead56. Runnymede57. Spelthorne58. Surrey Heath59. Tandridge60. Waverley61. Woking

West Sussex62. Adur63. Arun64. Chichester65. Crawley66. Horsham67. Mid Sussex68. Worthing

Local Authorities

KeithTaylorMEP.org.uk

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26

09

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01

13

22

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25

14

03

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28

12

34

47

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1924

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4243

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4849

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5152

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5657

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6263

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29 Southampton

Reading

Oxford

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Canterbury

Greater London