Guardian News on Air Pollution
An excellent source of new developments and news on air pollution. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/air-pollution
Meeting WHO Air Quality Guidelines can prevent 2000 deaths in West Midlands
A new scientific study has established that cleaner air in West Midlands could prevent premature (or early) deaths of more than 2000 people a year. The study highlights that if the West Midlands region were to meet the World Health Organization (WHO) new air quality guidelines, it could avoid 2000 new asthma cases and 770 […]
Dundee becomes second Scottish city to enforce Low Emission Zone
From 30th May 2024, Dundee will become the enforce Low Emission Zone or LEZ becoming the second Scottish city to do so after Glasgow. The big difference between the LEZs in Scotland and London’s ULEZ (Ultra Low Emissions Zone) is that the most polluting vehicles are banned north of the border while in the English […]
Air pollution peaks linked with irregular heart beats
Study of 200,000 Chinese hospital admissions finds acute exposure to air pollution raises risk of heart arrhythmias. The research, based on nearly 200,000 hospital admissions in China, found a significant increase in risk of arrhythmias in the first few hours after an increase in air pollution levels. Heart arrhythmias can increase the risk of heart […]
Air pollution is linked with 1,200 EU children deaths per year
European Environment Agency (EEA) report says that every year about 1,200 children in EU are prematurely killed by air pollution. The report accepts that air quality is generally improving but insists that more needs to be done, given that much of Europe remains above the World Health Organisation’s guidelines.
London ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) Impact is Significant
A year after the expansion of the London Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) to all of inner London and 18 months since the tightening up of the London-wide Low Emission Zone (LEZ), a new report on ULEZ performance has found that the improvement in air quality has been ‘dramatic’, stating that across the whole of […]
Sheffield Clean Air Zone (CAZ) Goes Live
In the last week of February 2023, Sheffield became the latest city to implement Clean Air Zone to improve its air quality. It has implemented as a Class C zone, tariffs are now applicable to the most polluting models of heavy good vehicles (HGVs) and light goods vehicles (LGVs). Vans, buses, coaches and taxis are […]
Chief Medical Officer’s annual report 2022: air pollution
The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) has published CMO’s annual report 2022. Air pollution was chosen by Prof Chris Whitty as the focus of his 2022 annual report. “It kills a lot of people [and] causes a lot of disease and disability throughout life,” he said. “Air pollution causes problems from the time before people are […]
Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill
The Clean Air (Huma Rights) Bill will soon become a legally binding act in the UK. The Bill would create a human right to breathe air; to require the Secretary of State to achieve and maintain clean air in England and Wales; to involve the UK Health Security Agency in setting and reviewing pollutants and […]
Congestion charge for Cardiff?
Councillors have refused to rule out introducing a congestion charge in Cardiff ahead of May’s local elections. Reports indicate that council favours actions to cut carbon emission, air pollution and tackle climate change. A council transport white paper, published in 2020, said a £2 congestion charge could be introduced in 2024. Transport consultants are currently […]