Air Quality May Move Up the Political Agenda in 2012

The next 12 months will see a substantial increase in awareness of the issue of air quality in the UK and a renewed focus on solving the problem, according to air quality monitoring experts, Enviro Technology (UK).

With poor air quality now shortening the life expectancy of people in the UK by an average of seven to eight months and costing society up to £20 billion per year, Enviro Technology is predicting the whole issue of air pollution will move up the national agenda in the next 12 months and beyond as more and more people are affected by the UK’s poor air quality and the Government faces the potential prospect of EU fines for breaching pollution limits.

According to the Government’s recently published Air Quality report, 40 out of the UK’s 43 assessment zones are failing to meet EU targets and poor air quality is now shortening the lives of some 200,000 people in the UK by an average of two years.

In fact, studies suggest that living near busy roads could account for 15-30% of new cases of asthma in children and a similar percentage of cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and coronary heart disease in adults aged 65 and over.

Against this backdrop, environmental campaigners such as Environmental Protection UK (EPUK) and the Healthy Air Campaign health, led by EPUK and supported by a number of transport, health and environment NGOs, are upping the ante to increase public awareness and understanding of the health impacts of air pollution in light of the Government’s failure to tackle the issue head on.

Steve Read, Managing Director of Enviro Technology, believes that over the coming year, there will be a large-scale shift in attention towards tackling air pollution once and for all, particularly in the year of the Olympics when all eyes will be on London and visitors from across the globe will be flocking to the Capital.

Enviro Technology predicts the Government will have to make improving air quality a key priority in 2012 and needs to encourage local authorities to communicate air pollution levels to the community in a clear and concise manner and advise how air quality can be improved by making simple behavioural changes such as encouraging people to get out of their cars and use public transport more.

Steve Read continued: “Emissions from road traffic are still the most significant source of air pollution in the UK due to the levels of NOx and PM10 it emits. This pollution is released at street level where it is inhaled by those who live and work or visit densely populated urban areas. These particulates and NO2 air pollution are invisible killers and it is vital that the public is made aware of how they can reduce their exposure to harmful pollutants and take positive steps to reduce emissions.