Health impacts of air pollution

World Health Organisation tells us worldwide ambient air pollution accounts for:

·       29% of all deaths and disease from lung cancer

·       17% of all deaths and disease from acute lower respiratory infection

·       24% of all deaths from stroke 

·       25% of all deaths and disease from ischaemic heart disease

·       43% of all deaths and disease from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

·       Adverse birth outcomes, such as low birth weight, pre-term birth and small gestational age births. 

Public Health England (PHE) have produced a new tool to calculate NHS and social care costs of air pollution. Using this tool, it has calculated the cost in England could reach £5.3 billion by 2035 unless action is taken. All local authorities can use the tool to estimate the impact on health and the savings to the NHS and social care under different air pollution scenarios.

A Briefing for Directors of Public Health 2017 describes the various pollutants is a really good introduction to the subject and the role of local authorities and the Director of Public Health. If you only read one document, read this one. It states;

·       Particulate matter (PM) air pollution in the UK in 2008 to be responsible for the equivalent of 64,000 deaths.

·       Tackling air pollution is a priority for this government and that is why they have agreed legally binding UK targets to reduce emissions of the five key primary air pollutants1 by 2020 (through the UNECE Gothenburg protocol) and 2030 (as part of the National Emission Ceilings Directive).

·       Legal limits are in place to protect human health. However, it is recognised that there are no absolutely safe levels. Evidence suggests that health effects can still occur well below these limits.

Suffolk County Council Healthy Suffolk states;

·       The Department of Public Health estimated in 2014 that 118 people die early in Suffolk every year directly because of particulate air pollution.  63 people a year die in Ipswich.

·       Car drivers are exposed to nine times as much as cyclists.

·       The negative effects of air pollution impact on everyone in society, but the effects are disproportionately felt by those at extremes of age (young and old), the socioeconomically disadvantaged and BAME groups.

·       Taking action to improve air quality is crucial to improve population health, and the optimise the public’s ability to benefit from Suffolk’s growth and prosperity.

·       The local authorities are legally required to collect data on the concentrations of specified air pollutants. They must declare an “Air Quality Management Area” (AQMA) where the concentration is predicted to exceed the legal limits. Government mandate local authorities take effective action to reduce these levels to legal limits and government targets.

·       There are currently 9 AQMAs across Suffolk, with 5 of these in Ipswich.

Introduction    Health impacts What needs to be done Council obligations Legal framework Director of Public Health