Surrey University air pollution expert warns we need to start "thinking ahead"

Prashant Kumar, Professor and Chair in air quality and health from the University of Surrey explained to us why air pollution is an issue and how people can reduce the impact.

"When you have the, you know, the smaller particles, for example, they are so small that they can go deep into your bloodstream and can dissolve and change the functioning. So this is why you see actually the impact of these air pollutants could start from, you know, the respiratory impact to the cardiovascular to the eye to the lung cancer. And there's been a lot of studies actually recently that have been highlighting the impact, like the dementia.

"So let's say we are sitting in Surrey, but we are in a different county and the wind is coming from there. If there are polluting conditions on that side, then the pollutants could really flow with the air, to the particular place.

"So, and the regulations, the policies actually, which talks about, you know, you know, providing people the opportunity or the, you know, to to to have some alternative options rather than building, you know, the burning the wood actually in their houses, which contributes quite a lot actually to the, you know, to the local air pollution.

"So that makes, you know, a a difference there as well. This is why you are seeing that there are policies like the cleaner drones because they solve the areas like, you know, the polluted cities, the big cities. They're bringing those actions so that they can take actually these vehicles off the road.

"But there's definitely a need for more holistic kind of thinking in terms of not only, you know, cleaning of the cities inside, but also looking into the surroundings. Because as I said, the pollution does not have the boundaries.

"But, obviously, you know, the battle harmonization on certain aspects and thinking ahead of time in terms of what would be the future challenges in terms of the air pollution and what could be done now that could really help actually to be on the front of forefront of the problem and make a, you know, to make the decisions, and put the the plan in at once that can really be effective when this sort of high pollution situation arises."

Air pollution negatively affects almost every organ in the body and around 30,000 UK deaths will be linked to toxic air in 2025, according to a new report from leading doctors.

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) said that there is "no safe level" of air pollutants as it warned that around 99% of the UK population are breathing in "toxic air".

Exposure to air pollution can shorten people's lives by 1.8 years, which is "just behind some of the leading causes of death and disease worldwide", including cancer and smoking, the authors wrote.

The report highlights some new research findings about air pollution and ill health over the last decade, including that even if low concentrations air pollution can have impacts on foetal development, cancer, heart disease, stroke, mental health conditions and dementia.

The report also highlights how air pollution is estimated to have an economic cost of £27 billion a year in healthcare costs and productivity losses.

This figure would be significantly higher - up to £50 billion - if wider impacts such as dementia are taken into account.

The College has called for ambitious action form Government to tackle the issue, as it urged ministers to "recognise air pollution as a key public health issue".

In the forward of the report, England's chief medical officer, Professor Sir Chris Whitty, said: "Air pollution remains the most important environmental threat to health, with impacts throughout the life course.

"It is an area of health where the UK has made substantial progress in the last three decades with concentrations of many of the main pollutants falling rapidly, but it remains a major cause of chronic ill health as well as premature mortality.

"Further progress in outdoor air pollution will occur if we decide to make it, but will not happen without practical and achievable changes to heating, transport and industry in particular.

"Air pollution affects everybody, and is everybody's business."

Dr Mumtaz Patel, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: "Air pollution can no longer be seen as just an environmental issue - it's a public health crisis.

"We are losing tens of thousands of lives every year to something that is mostly preventable and the financial cost is a price we simply cannot afford to keep paying.

"We wouldn't accept 30,000 preventable deaths from any other cause. We need to treat clean air with the same seriousness we treat clean water or safe food. It is a basic human right - and a vital investment in our economic future."

It comes as Asthma and Lung UK called for tougher clean air laws.

Air pollution has triggered potentially life-threatening asthma attacks and severe flare-ups of illness one in five people with lung conditions, according to a new poll by the charity.

More than half of 8,000 UK patients with lung conditions said air pollution had left them feeling breathless, according to the survey.

Charity chief executive Sarah Sleet said: "Air pollution is a public health emergency. It is the biggest environmental threat to human health.

"For the millions living with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), air pollution can be deadly, yet many people are unaware of the toll it has on the nation's health.

"Toxic air is a major driver of respiratory conditions and can cause lung cancer and trigger asthma attacks, as well as flare ups of lung conditions such as COPD, exacerbating symptoms such as breathlessness, wheezing and coughing.

"Despite the huge personal and financial costs of air pollution, the government has not yet shown the political will to tackle this crisis."

On Thursday over 100 doctors, nurses, patients and activists will meet at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London and walk to Downing Street to deliver a letter calling for Government to commit to "ambitious" air quality targets.

And one expert from Southampton warned that the nation could be walking into a "microplastics-style crisis".

Dr Thom Daniels, consultant respiratory physician at University Hospital Southampton, said: "While outdoor air pollution is widely recognised and understood, the dangers of indoor air pollution remain largely overlooked - and I worry we're sleepwalking into another microplastics-style crisis if we don't act now."

And next month a cross-party group of MPs said they will reintroduce a bill, named after nine-year-old schoolgirl who died from an asthma attack linked to air pollution, which aims to make clean air a human right under UK law.

Dubbed "Ella's Law", the proposed legislation is named after Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, who lived 82ft from the busy South Circular Road in Lewisham and suffered the fatal asthma attack in February 2013.

She became the first person to have air pollution listed as a cause of death following a landmark inquest in 2020.