Air Quality Overview
- Poor air quality is the biggest environmental risk to public health in the UK.
- Short-term health impacts: Coughing, wheezing, and worsening of asthma.
- Long-term health impacts: Heart and respiratory diseases, dementia, diabetes, low birth weight, and child developmental problems.
Health Inequalities
- Air pollution contributes to health inequalities.
- People in less polluted areas live approximately 3 years longer than those in highly polluted areas.
Statement from Laura Austin Croft, Population Health Lead
“Poor air quality is the biggest environmental risk to public health in the UK. Air pollution can affect the eyes, nose and throat, the heart and lungs. Short-term health impacts include coughing, wheezing and worsening of conditions such as asthma.
Being exposed to air pollution over a number of years or over a lifetime can reduce life expectancy owing to a wide range of health impacts including heart and respiratory diseases. Recent research also shows negative effects on dementia, diabetes and early life including low birth weight and developmental problems.
Why is this such an important issue for ELFT? Damaging air pollution can be measured by Particulate Matter (PM) which is everything in the air that is not a gas and is made up from a variety of chemical compounds and materials, some of which are toxic. Due to the small size of many of the particles they can enter the bloodstream and be transported around the body, entering the heart, brain and other organs. In 2022, City of London, Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Newham were in the top ten local authorities in England with the highest proportion (%) of deaths attributable to fine Particulate Matter[1]. Fine Particulate Matter is also higher in Luton than the England and East of England average.
We therefore know that anything we can do in these areas to improve air quality will improve the life of our service users and residents. Air quality creates health inequalities in the same way as other wider determinants of health. People live around 3 years longer in neighbourhoods with the least air pollution compared with people living in neighbourhoods with the most. Doing our bit to reduce air pollution also helps us do our bit to improve health and make our local environments a fairer place for everyone.”