Air Pollution: The Invisible Killer

Clean air is one of the fundamental
things we need in order to enjoy
good health and quality of life.
Where does air
pollution come from?
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 pollutant
emissions 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.

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.

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!

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 2007
www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/air/air-quality/
committees/ageg/publish
Printed on 100% recycled paper
Why are we worried
about air pollution?
Road traffic is the biggest source
of air pollution in most areas.
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.

The main areas for local and national
government to take action are:
Individual action can make a big
difference to levels of air pollution.
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
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.
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)’.
Firm action by national government, local
government and individuals can reduce
air pollution and improve public health.
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.

Is air pollution linked
to climate change?
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.
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 good news is that air pollution
is something that is within our
grasp to tackle.
How can I reduce air
pollution in my local area?
The right to breathe
clean air is fundamental
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.
How can we tackle
air pollution?
Thousands of lives in the South East
are being shortened because air is
heavily polluted in many places,
mostly by traffic.
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.
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.
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.
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.

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).
Experts believe that long term
exposure to particulate matter
contributes to over 200,000
premature deaths each year.
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.
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.
1 California Environmental Protection Agency,
Air Resources Board
www.arb.ca.gov/research/chs/chs.htm
All borough, district and unitary
local authorities in the UK are
legally required to review and
assess air quality in their area.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Air Quality Action Plans
Keith Taylor
Green MEP for South East England
Air pollution is an invisible public
health crisis. Long term exposure
to air pollution is associated with
heart and lung disease.
Better air across Europe
On the European Parliament’s Transport
& Tourism committee I am working to
promote a shift to more environmentally
friendly ways of getting about.
How does air pollution
affect our health?
Air Pollution:
The Invisible Killer
Air Pollution in London
and the South East
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.
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.
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.
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.
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’.
Low emission zone in London.
Photography by Leo Reynolds
p
Map showing air pollution
in London and the South East
u
A Low Emission Zone (LEZ) is an area
where only vehicles that meet a certain
air quality standard are allowed to enter.
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.
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.
09
46
London: the worst
air in Europe?
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.
Air Pollution Monitoring Station.
Photography by London Permaculture
p
07
50
For more information visit:
 lowemissionzones.eu
47
Major air pollutants
Low Emission Zones
in Oxford and Reading
In 2010 a health study 3, 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 city 4.
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-strategy
4 Every Breath You Take: An investigation into air quality in
London, May 2009
Oxford
08
11
48
49
Pollutant
Source
Health Effect
Particulate Matter
(PM). Tiny particles
of pollution that are
absorbed deep into
our lungs.
Road transport (mainly
diesel vehicles), power
stations, domestic boilers.
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.
Nitrogen Dioxide
(NO2). Brownish gas.
Road transport, domestic
boilers, power stations
and industry.
A respiratory irritant
which can cause
particular problems
to people with existing
respiratory issues,
such as asthma.
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.
Produced when sunlight
reacts with pollutants
from vehicles and
industrial emissions.
A respiratory irritant
that causes inflammation
of the airways. Long
term exposure can
be very damaging to
people’s health.
Adapted from table in Every Breath You Take:
An investigation into air quality in London, GLA, 2009

Key
local authorities that have
declared an ‘Air Quality
Management Area’ for
one or more pollutants.

local authorities without an
‘Air Quality Management Area’.

10
03
05
02
04
18
35
Reading
06
01
56
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
24
19
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.
34
44
Canterbury
55
28
60
30
33
45
65
41
20
31
21
29
67
66
Southampton
26
16
17
64
15
22
23
27
25
63
62
12
14
Brighton
68
13
More information:
 biogasmax.eu
32
Alerting people to poor
air quality in Sussex
5 Source: London Borough of Camden
camden.gov.uk/ccm/content/environment/air-qualityand-pollution/air-quality/research.en?page=5
Earlier this year the ‘Canterbury
for Clean Air’ campaign group
was formed.
of transport, reduce the number of cars in
the city centre and to bring air pollution
levels down.
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.
Biomethane bus operating in Lille. Photograph by mwanasimba
The group is working to raise awareness
of air pollution, encourage more people
to adopt cycling as an alternative mode
Local Authorities
36
38
59
54
Campaigning for cleaner
air in Canterbury
p
52
40
53
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.
43
42
51
61
Clean green buses
in Lille, France
39
37
57
58
The French city of Lille knew that
its diesel buses were a major
source of air pollution.
Greater London
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 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.
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.
airAlert operates across Sussex,
Southampton, Hertfordshire and
Bedfordshire, and a similar scheme
know as airText is in operation
across Greater London, Liverpool
and Wakefield.
Berkshire
01. Bracknell Forest
02. Reading
03. Slough
04. West Berkshire
05. Windsor &
Maidenhead
06. Wokingham
24. Hart
25. Havant
26. New Forest
27. Portsmouth
28. Rushmoor
29. Southampton
30. Test Valley
31. Winchester
Buckinghamshire
07. Aylesbury Vale
08. Chiltern
09. Milton Keynes
10. South Bucks
11. Wycombe
Isle of Wight
32. Isle of Wight
Greater London
18. Greater London
Kent
33. Ashford
34. Canterbury
35. Dartford
36. Dover
37. Gravesham
38. Maidstone
39. Medway
40. Sevenoaks
41. Shepway
42. Swale
43. Thanet
44. Tonbridge & Malling
45. Tunbridge Wells
Hampshire
19. Basingstoke & Deane
20. East Hampshire
21. Eastleigh
22. Fareham
23. Gosport
Oxfordshire
46. Cherwell
47. Oxford
48. South Oxfordshire
49. Vale of White Horse
50. West Oxfordshire
East Sussex
12. Brighton & Hove
13. Eastbourne
14. Hastings
15. Lewes
16. Rother
17. Wealden
Surrey
51. Elmbridge
52. Epsom & Ewell
53. Guildford
54. Mole Valley
55. Reigate & Banstead
56. Runnymede
57. Spelthorne
58. Surrey Heath
59. Tandridge
60. Waverley
61. Woking
West Sussex
62. Adur
63. Arun
64. Chichester
65. Crawley
66. Horsham
67. Mid Sussex
68. Worthing
For more information visit:
airalert.info and airtext.info

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.
p
The Canterbury for Clean Air team
KeithTaylorMEP.org.uk