BEXHILL ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP
Talk on the Facts about Air Pollution
25th September 2019
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BEG Talk: Facts about Air Pollution
Bexhill Environmental Group held their latest talk at Beulah Church Hall on Wednesday 25th September. Senior air quality consultant Emma Gibbons from the Arup Group presented information on air pollution in the UK to the audience of 45 visitors. The talk covered where air pollution comes from, how it can affect our health and what we can do to help.
91% of the world's population live in polluted areas that exceed World Health Organisation air quality guidelines. Prior to the Clean Air Act in 1956, most air pollution in the UK came from industry and smoking chimneys. Now, the leading source of UK air pollution is motor vehicles and the burning of wood and coal. The Royal College of Physicians says around 40,000 early deaths per year are linked to UK air pollution. Some of our larger towns and cities sometimes experience levels of air pollution that exceed the legal safe levels set by the E.U. The UK Government is currently responding to legal action from the E.U. High levels of pollution sometimes occur across other parts of Europe.
The World Health Organisation classifies sources of air pollution under transport, industry and energy supply, agriculture, dust, waste management and household energy. The main cause of air pollution in the UK is road transport that generates harmful gases including nitrogen dioxide and fine particulates smaller than grains of sand. The sun can act on these harmful gases to create ozone near the ground and in extreme cases lead to smog. Major sources of fine particulates are the exhausts of diesel engines and tyre wear and decay.
The Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs says air pollution is the top environmental risk to human health in the UK. Public Health England says man-made air pollution has close links to some lung and heart conditions, has possible effects on dementia, low birth weight and diabetes. Young children are more at risk from asthma and poor lung development. A study in Tower Hamlets showed that children living in polluted air grow up with 20% less lung function which they did not recover in adulthood. The elderly can be more vulnerable to poor air quality.
The weather can affect air quality. High pressure and calm conditions during heatwaves or frosty spells can concentrate air pollution at low levels whereas strong winds mix the pollution within the atmosphere and reduce pollution at ground level. Air pollution can have ecological impacts especially to sensitive habitats such as heathland. There is evidence that some European forests are being damaged by acid rain. Some agricultural and industrial practises e.g. cooking can give rise to odours that are usually more of a nuisance rather than harmful to human health.
Inside our homes, the general air quality will be similar to the ambient air quality outside. Closing doors and windows may help prevent a temporary source of outside air pollutants entering the home e.g. smoke from a garden bonfire. We sometimes reduce the quality of the air inside our homes by: cooking, cleaning, heating, lighting and the materials we use.
Monitoring stations around the country measure levels of air pollution. Bexhill has an air pollution monitor on De La Warr Road. The audience was reassured to learn that the readings at this station were well within the safe levels set by the UK Government. The average for the year 2017 showed 21.8 micrograms of nitrogen dioxide per cubic metre of air compared with a safe level of up to 40 micrograms. Small particulate readings were also inside safe levels. However, we should be wary of potentially higher local pollution levels near our busy traffic areas and in our streets with high buildings on both sides.
Kerbside greening projects, roadside trees and vertical planting on walls has little beneficial effect on urban air pollution. Air particulates trapped by trees and plants are released back into the environment after rainfall or when the leaves fall. Defra say urban greening projects are not acceptable mitigation for air pollution. Where streets are enclosed by tall buildings on both sides that are higher than the width of the street traffic pollution can become trapped at street level. Dense roadside tree planting can have a similar effect. Queuing traffic generates more pollution in the immediate area and produces around twice as much pollution overall compared with free flowing traffic.
In January 2019, the UK Government launched its Clean Air Strategy to control future sources of air pollution and plans to end the sale of conventional petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040. New vehicles sold now are subject to increasingly strict pollution controls. London has stringent planning rules to mitigate air pollution. The Ultra-Low Emission Zone enforced from April discourages more polluting vehicles from entering the city. New planning schemes across the UK often need an air quality assessment. Local authorities declare Air Quality Management Areas where the air quality may adversely affect people or the environment e.g. near busy roads. We were shown examples of the predicted air pollution levels by computer models for major road, industrial and aviation schemes including Gatwick airport.
The talk concluded with ways we can all help reduce air pollution. Use your motor vehicle less, limit the time the engine is idling and consider less congested routes and electric or hybrid engines. Fully insulate your home and service heating appliances and sweep chimneys regularly. Reduce burning fuel inside the home and reduce burning green waste in the garden. If you choose to burn fuel, use approved appliances and the right fuel e.g. dried firewood. Walk and cycle more, choose quieter routes and keep children away from the edge of roads and vehicle exhausts. Concentrations of nitrogen dioxide drop off quickly from the roadside and can halve within 20 metres.
The audience raised many questions both during and at the end of the talk including ventilation in motor vehicles, asking manufacturers how much air pollution their products may produce and the links and differences between air pollution and climate change.
Bexhill Environmental Group held their latest talk at Beulah Church Hall on Wednesday 25th September. Senior air quality consultant Emma Gibbons from the Arup Group presented information on air pollution in the UK to the audience of 45 visitors. The talk covered where air pollution comes from, how it can affect our health and what we can do to help.
91% of the world's population live in polluted areas that exceed World Health Organisation air quality guidelines. Prior to the Clean Air Act in 1956, most air pollution in the UK came from industry and smoking chimneys. Now, the leading source of UK air pollution is motor vehicles and the burning of wood and coal. The Royal College of Physicians says around 40,000 early deaths per year are linked to UK air pollution. Some of our larger towns and cities sometimes experience levels of air pollution that exceed the legal safe levels set by the E.U. The UK Government is currently responding to legal action from the E.U. High levels of pollution sometimes occur across other parts of Europe.
The World Health Organisation classifies sources of air pollution under transport, industry and energy supply, agriculture, dust, waste management and household energy. The main cause of air pollution in the UK is road transport that generates harmful gases including nitrogen dioxide and fine particulates smaller than grains of sand. The sun can act on these harmful gases to create ozone near the ground and in extreme cases lead to smog. Major sources of fine particulates are the exhausts of diesel engines and tyre wear and decay.
The Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs says air pollution is the top environmental risk to human health in the UK. Public Health England says man-made air pollution has close links to some lung and heart conditions, has possible effects on dementia, low birth weight and diabetes. Young children are more at risk from asthma and poor lung development. A study in Tower Hamlets showed that children living in polluted air grow up with 20% less lung function which they did not recover in adulthood. The elderly can be more vulnerable to poor air quality.
The weather can affect air quality. High pressure and calm conditions during heatwaves or frosty spells can concentrate air pollution at low levels whereas strong winds mix the pollution within the atmosphere and reduce pollution at ground level. Air pollution can have ecological impacts especially to sensitive habitats such as heathland. There is evidence that some European forests are being damaged by acid rain. Some agricultural and industrial practises e.g. cooking can give rise to odours that are usually more of a nuisance rather than harmful to human health.
Inside our homes, the general air quality will be similar to the ambient air quality outside. Closing doors and windows may help prevent a temporary source of outside air pollutants entering the home e.g. smoke from a garden bonfire. We sometimes reduce the quality of the air inside our homes by: cooking, cleaning, heating, lighting and the materials we use.
Monitoring stations around the country measure levels of air pollution. Bexhill has an air pollution monitor on De La Warr Road. The audience was reassured to learn that the readings at this station were well within the safe levels set by the UK Government. The average for the year 2017 showed 21.8 micrograms of nitrogen dioxide per cubic metre of air compared with a safe level of up to 40 micrograms. Small particulate readings were also inside safe levels. However, we should be wary of potentially higher local pollution levels near our busy traffic areas and in our streets with high buildings on both sides.
Kerbside greening projects, roadside trees and vertical planting on walls has little beneficial effect on urban air pollution. Air particulates trapped by trees and plants are released back into the environment after rainfall or when the leaves fall. Defra say urban greening projects are not acceptable mitigation for air pollution. Where streets are enclosed by tall buildings on both sides that are higher than the width of the street traffic pollution can become trapped at street level. Dense roadside tree planting can have a similar effect. Queuing traffic generates more pollution in the immediate area and produces around twice as much pollution overall compared with free flowing traffic.
In January 2019, the UK Government launched its Clean Air Strategy to control future sources of air pollution and plans to end the sale of conventional petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040. New vehicles sold now are subject to increasingly strict pollution controls. London has stringent planning rules to mitigate air pollution. The Ultra-Low Emission Zone enforced from April discourages more polluting vehicles from entering the city. New planning schemes across the UK often need an air quality assessment. Local authorities declare Air Quality Management Areas where the air quality may adversely affect people or the environment e.g. near busy roads. We were shown examples of the predicted air pollution levels by computer models for major road, industrial and aviation schemes including Gatwick airport.
The talk concluded with ways we can all help reduce air pollution. Use your motor vehicle less, limit the time the engine is idling and consider less congested routes and electric or hybrid engines. Fully insulate your home and service heating appliances and sweep chimneys regularly. Reduce burning fuel inside the home and reduce burning green waste in the garden. If you choose to burn fuel, use approved appliances and the right fuel e.g. dried firewood. Walk and cycle more, choose quieter routes and keep children away from the edge of roads and vehicle exhausts. Concentrations of nitrogen dioxide drop off quickly from the roadside and can halve within 20 metres.
The audience raised many questions both during and at the end of the talk including ventilation in motor vehicles, asking manufacturers how much air pollution their products may produce and the links and differences between air pollution and climate change.