Air pollution in the United Kingdom

Air pollutionin theUnited Kingdomhas long been considered a significant health issue, and it causes numerous other environmental problems such as damage to buildings,[1][2]forests, and crops.[3]Many areas, including major cities likeLondon,are found to be significantly and regularly above legal and recommended pollution levels.[4][5]Air pollution in the UK is a major cause of diseases such asasthma,lung disease,stroke,cancer,andheart disease,and is estimated to cause forty thousand premature deaths each year, which is about 8.3% of deaths, while costing around £40 billion each year.[6][7]

Low-lying haze over London caused by air pollution

Air pollution is monitored and regulated. Air quality targets forparticulates,nitrogen dioxideandozone,[8]set by theDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs(DEFRA), are mostly aimed at local government representatives responsible for the management of air quality in cities, where air quality management is the most urgent. In 2017, research by the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change and the Royal College of Physicians revealed that air pollution levels in 44 cities in the UK are above the recommended World Health Organization guidelines.[9][10]

The UK government has plans to improve pollution due to traffic, mainly through the introduction of urbanClean Air Zones[11]and banning the sale of new fossil fuel cars by 2030.[12]It has also phased out the use of coal inits electrical power generation.[13]

History

edit

Prehistory to the 20th century

edit
Estimated air pollution in London from 1700 to 2016

Air pollution is often assumed to have begun with theIndustrial Revolution,but it's a much older problem.[14]

Mining has existed inGreat Britainsince prehistoric times and lead mines (such asCharterhouseinSomersetandOdin MineinDerbyshire) may have been worked beforeRoman Britain.ThePipe Rollsrefer to lead and silversmeltingin theMiddle Ages.[15][16][17][18]Research on a Swiss ice-core indicates that atmospheric pollution containing lead between the years 1170 and 1216 was as high as that during the Industrial Revolution, correlating accurately with smelting in thePeak District,the primary European source of lead and silver at the time, with spikes in pollution associated closely with the increasing power of successive monarchs during their reigns.[19][20][21]

In 1306,Edward Iintroduced the first prohibitive environmental law, against the usage of 'sea coal' fromNorthumbria.Sulphur-rich coal from this exposedseamwas increasingly being used because of dwindling supplies of wood in and around cities, but it produced stifling smoke and fumes. The legislation made little difference to the population even up toElizabeth I's time.

By the 1600s, smoke pollution was also having an effect on building exteriors. In a landmark legal case from 1610, judgement was awarded toWilliam Aldredagainst his neighbour, with references to the smell of pig sties and fumes from lime kilns, "stopping of the wholesome air" and "infecting and corrupting the air".[22][23][24]

Through the 1800s, coal-burning for theIndustrial Revolutionin particular made the UK the world's leading source of carbon-based air pollution by a great margin (surpassed by theUnited Statesin 1888 andGermanyin 1913).[25][26]Local campaigning societies sprang up to complain about the health risks, such as theCommittee for the Consumption of SmokeinLeeds.[24]TheAlkali Act of 1863was passed – and intermittently amended – to regulate irritant gaseoushydrochloric acidproduced in theLeblanc processto makesodium carbonate,but also thesulphuric acidoften caused by emissions from the same factories.[27]ThePublic Health Actwas passed in 1875, which legislated not just for the health effects of air pollution but also the visual effects.

Greater scientific efforts to measure air pollution played an increasing part in drawing attention to the problem.Robert Angus Smithmade the first measurements ofacid rainfrom rain samples in 1852.[28]During the early 20th century, scientific studies were driven by the Committee for the Investigation of Atmospheric Pollution (later known as the Advisory Committee on Atmospheric Pollution), a group of scientists including Irish physician and environmental engineerJohn Switzer OwensandSir Napier Shaw,linked to theMet Office,who greatly advanced the systematic study and measurement of pollution using a network ofdeposit gauges.[29][30][31]

Experiments by theLondon County Counciland the Meteorological Council from 1902 to 1903 found that 20% of London fogs were due to smoke alone, all were made denser and longer-lasting by smoke and that the death rate "enormously expands" during the fogs.[32]By the 20th century – at least – respiratory diseases were the UK's biggest killers [the death-rate from bronchitis in the UK remained the highest in the world in the early 1950s, 65 per 100,000 in England and Wales, more than twice than of the nearest other country, Belgium].[33][24]

The Great Smog of 1952

edit
TheGreat Smogof 1952 inLondon

Early in December 1952, a cold fog descended upon London. Because of the cold, Londoners began to burn more coal than usual. The resulting air pollution was trapped by the inversion layer formed by the dense mass of cold air. Concentrations of pollutants, coal smoke in particular, built up dramatically. The problem was made worse by use of low-quality, high-sulphur coal for home heating in London in order to permit export of higher-quality coal, because of the country's tenuous postwar economic situation. The "fog", or smog, was so thick that driving became difficult or impossible.[34]The extreme reduction in visibility was accompanied by an increase in criminal activity as well as transportation delays and a virtual shut down of the city. During the 4 day period of smog, some 3,000–4,000 people were estimated to have died, though more recent estimates suggest the actual figure may have been as high as 12,000.[35][36]

Recent history

edit

Four years after the Great London Smog, parliament passed theClean Air Act,which made a substantial difference to urban air quality.[37]Even so, air pollution remains a serious environmental issue in the UK over half a century later.[38]

In April 2014, for example, there were warnings of 'very high' air pollution for many areas of England. High levels of pollution in London and other parts of the south east of England were bad enough to cause sore eyes and sore throats and experts warned those with heart conditions and asthma to stay inside.[39][40]

Attempts to tackle air pollution through legislation have also continued. On 29 April 2015, theUK Supreme Courtruled that the government must take immediate action to cut air pollution,[41]following a case brought by environmental lawyers atClientEarth.[42]

Published pollution information

edit
NOx emissions from road transport in Greater London (GLA boundary) from 2013 to 2019[43]
Sources of air pollution in the UK, PM2.5, 2016.
Annual emissions of PM2.5 by major emissions sources (1990, 2005, 2019 and 2020). Emissions from some sectors (e.g., road transport) have decreased sharply while that from other sectors (e.g., domestic combustion, manufacturing industries and construction) have remained roughly the same or even increased since 2005.

The UK has established an air quality network where levels of the key air pollutants[44]are published by monitoring centres.[45]Air quality inOxford,Bathand London[46]is particularly poor. One study[47]performed by theCalor Gas companyand published inThe Guardian newspapercompared walking in Oxford on an average day to smoking over sixty light cigarettes.

The UK Air Quality Archive contains more precise information[48]which permits a cities management of pollutants to be compared against the national air quality objectives[49]set by DEFRA in 2000

Localized peak values are often cited, but average values are also important to human health. The UK National Air Quality Information Archive offers almost real-time monitoring of "current maximum" air pollution measurements for many UK towns and cities.[50]This source offers a wide range of constantly updated data, including:

  • Hourly Mean Ozone (μg/m3)
  • Hourly Mean Nitrogen dioxide (μg/m3)
  • Maximum 15-Minute Mean Sulphur dioxide (μg/m3)
  • 8-Hour Mean Carbon monoxide (mg/m3)
  • 24-Hour Mean PM10(μg/m3Grav Equiv)

DEFRA acknowledges that air pollution has a significant effect on health and has produced a simple banding index system[51]that is used to create a daily warning system that is issued by theBBCWeather Service to indicate air pollution levels.[52]DEFRA has published guidelines for people suffering from respiratory and heart diseases.[53]

Patients visiting doctors' surgeries, health centres and hospitals are exposed to polluted air that breachesWHOguidelines. A third of GP surgeries and a quarter of hospitals are in areas that breach WHO guidelines. Pollutants, notably toxic particles emitted by diesel vehicles, are linked to lifelong health issues like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, strokes and lung cancer among others.[54]

UK Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs air quality monitoring station (UK-AIR ID: UKA00362) at theNational Trust'sWicken Fennature reserve

Pollutants, notably toxic particles emitted by diesel vehicles are entering children's lungs, potentially getting into their blood streams and their brains. This can effect children's long-term health, even lifelong health, their life expectancies and their intelligence. The government lost three high court cases because its plans to deal with air pollution were considered too weak, green groups and clean air campaigners frequently criticise the government. Air pollution leads to 40,000 early deaths annually and seriously impacts the lives of hundreds of thousands more, air pollution costs the NHS and social care services £40m annually.[55]The UK has also been taken to the European court due to air pollution.[56]Queen Mary University of Londonpublished research on children's exposure to air pollution across the school day and found that they were disproportionately exposed to higher doses of pollution during the school run and whilst at school – particularly at break time in the school playground.[57]

TheRoyal College of Paediatrics and Child Health,theRoyal College of PhysiciansandUnicefare concerned over winter 2018/2019. Air pollution will worsen as people burn fuel to heat their homes. When people's respiratory systems are weakened through air pollution low temperatures will weaken them further this particularly affects children and elderly people. It is feared hospital patients with respiratory problems will add to the pressure on theNHSwhich is regularly overburdened in winter.[58]

As of 2018,approximately 4.5 million children in the UK (one in three) is growing up in a town or city with unsafe levels of particulate pollution.[59]

Remediation

edit

In 2019, toxic air leads to the premature deaths of at least 40,000 people a year in the UK – 9,000 in London – and it leaves hundreds of thousands more suffering serious long-term health problems.[60][61][62]

London

edit

LondonmayorSadiq Khanlaunched theUltra Low Emission Zone(ULEZ) in April 2019 which involves a charge on older diesel and petrol cars with £12.50 per day. Busses pay £100 per day. This follows theLondon low emission zoneplan operating since 2008.[60][61] The ULEZ was expected to cause a 20% reduction in road traffic emissions and resulted in a drop of the worst polluting vehicles entering the zone each day from 35,578 in March to 26,195 in April after the charge was introduced.[63][64]A poll in April 2019 by YouGov found that 72% of Londoners supported using emissions charging to tackle both air pollution and congestion.[60]

The zone was extended to the North and South Circular from 2021 so that it covers an area containing 3.8 million people.[65][66]A month into the expansion, TfL said that the proportion of compliant vehicles had risen from 87% to 92%, and the number of the most polluting vehicles had fallen by over a third (from 127,000 to 80,000 on weekdays).[67]The zone was further extended to the whole of Greater London in August 2023.[68]

On the other hand,COMEAPhas reported on the relative risks of breathing air pollution in different situations. In January 2019, for example, it reported that pollution fromparticulatesis up to 30 times higher on theLondon Undergroundthan on streets in the roads above, with theNorthern Linehaving the worst air quality.[69][70]

England Air management

edit

If a local authority finds an area where the targets are not likely to be met, it must declare it an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA)[71]and produce a Local Air Quality Action Plan[72]to improve the air quality. DEFRA has published a list of local authorities with AQMAs.[73]The action plan may include measures foridle reductionof vehicle engines. An example is theMetropolitan Borough of Dudley.[74]

Government

edit

Domestic combustion

edit

In theUnited Kingdomdomestic combustion is the largest single source of PM2.5and PM10annually[needs update],with domestic wood burning in both closed stoves and open fires responsible for 38% of PM2.5in 2019.[75][76][77]

To tackle the problem some new laws were introduced. Starting from May 2021, traditional house coal (bituminous coal) and wet wood, two of the most polluting fuels, can no longer be sold. Wood sold in volumes of less than 2m3must be certified as 'Ready to Burn', which means it has a moisture content of 20% or less. Manufactured solid fuels must also be certified as 'Ready to Burn' to ensure they meet sulphur and smoke emission limits.[78]Starting from 2022, all new wood burning stoves have to meet new EcoDesign standards (Ecodesign stoves produce 450 times more toxic air pollution than gas central heating. Older stoves, which are now banned from sale, produce 3,700 times more).[79]In 2023, the amount of smoke that burners in "smoke control areas" - most England's towns and cities - can emit per hour is reduced from 5g to 3g. Violation will result in an on-the-spot fine of up to £300 and may even get a criminal record.[80]

Road transport

edit

On 26 July 2017, the British government announced plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in Britain by 2040.[81]This follows a similar announcement by the French government on 6 July 2017.[82]

Industry

edit

On 25 July 2017,BMWannounced that it would start production of an all-electric version of theMiniat its plant inCowley, Oxfordshire,in 2019.[83]Volvohad earlier announced that all its new cars from 2019 would beelectricorhybrid.[84]

Campaigning and public awareness

edit

Air pollution has been simultaneously tackled as both a scientific problem (needing further research) and an environmental and public health issue (requiring changes in public behaviour) in the UK since the late 19th century.[85]

Scientists who set out to investigate air pollution often found themselves raising awareness of the problem and sometimes actively campaigning against it.Robert Angus Smithlectured on subjects such as urban sanitation and acid rain[86][87]and, in the 1840s, wrote two lengthy, heartfelt letters toThe Manchester Guardianhighlighting the problem of air pollution, noting: "The gloominess and uncleanness is everywhere around us; the depression of filth on the spirits and on the pockets is continually before our eyes; the destruction of our landscapes and of our town views is undoubted, and can we fail to look upon this as a small evil?"[88]The meteorologistRollo Russell,who warned of London's dangerous "fogs" in 1880, over 70 years before the Great London Smog, has been described as a "forceful" campaigner,[31]whileJohn Switzer Owens,who helped to establish pollution monitoring across the UK, was closely linked to the first major British air pollution campaign group, the Coal Smoke Abatement Society (CSAS), established in 1898 (later renamed the National Society for Clean Air and now known asEnvironmental Protection UK).[85][89]

British air pollution campaigning currently involves a mixture of grassroots activism (by groups such asMums for Lungsand individual campaigners such asRosamund Kissi-Debrah),[90]public health awareness (through events such asClean Air Day),[91]legal work (advanced by activist lawyers such asClientEarth),[92]and more traditional campaigning (by environmental groups such asGreenpeaceandFriends of the Earth,public health advocacy groups such asBritish Lung FoundationandAsthma UK,and organizations that raise health and safety issues, such as theBritish Safety Council).[93][94]Citizen scienceprojects combine scientific research with public health awareness raising and grassroots environmental campaigning.[95][96]

UK government advisory bodies such as theAir Quality Expert Group(AQEG) andCommittee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants(COMEAP) are not campaigning organizations, but activists and journalists often draw on their scientific reports to support campaign work and media articles designed to raise public awareness.[97][98]Academic scientists, such asFrank J Kelly(of Imperial College) andAlastair Lewis(of the National Centre for Atmospheric Science), who include public outreach as part of their work on air pollution, also play an important part in awareness raising and campaigning by connecting science to public policy.[99][100]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^Brimblecombe, Peter(2003).The Effects Of Air Pollution On The Built Environment.World Scientific.ISBN1783261366.
  2. ^Brimblecombe, Peter; Grossi, Carlota M. (2010)."Potential Damage to Modern Building Materials from 21st Century Air Pollution".The Scientific World Journal.10:116–125.doi:10.1100/tsw.2010.17.PMC5763901.PMID20098955.
  3. ^Emberson, Lisa; Ashmore, Mike; Murray, Frank (2003).Air Pollution Impacts on Crops and Forests: A Global Assessment.World Scientific.ISBN9781860942921.
  4. ^Powell, Tom (21 October 2017)."44 UK towns and cities have air 'too dangerous to breathe', report claims".Evening Standard.Retrieved20 September2021.
  5. ^"UK's most polluted towns and cities revealed".BBC News.4 May 2018.Retrieved20 September2021.
  6. ^Roberts, Michelle (23 February 2016)."Pollution link to 40,000 deaths a year".BBC News.
  7. ^Silver, Katie (20 October 2017)."Pollution linked to one in six deaths".BBC News.
  8. ^"National air quality objectives"(PDF).uk-air.defra.gov.uk.
  9. ^"Air in 44 UK cities and towns too dangerous to breathe, UN pollution report finds".Archivedfrom the original on 2017-10-31.
  10. ^"RCP and Lancet Countdown: New research on health and climate".Archived fromthe originalon 2017-12-01.Retrieved2017-11-29.
  11. ^Cannon, Matthew (12 April 2019)."Clean air zones: Where will UK drivers pay for polluting?".BBC News.Retrieved25 November2024.
  12. ^"Government takes historic step towards net-zero with end of sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030".Gov.uk.UK Government. 18 November 2020.Retrieved25 November2024.
  13. ^"UK to finish with coal power after 142 years".30 September 2024.Retrieved25 November2024.
  14. ^Brimblecombe, Peter(1987).The Big Smoke: A History of Air Pollution in London Since Medieval Times.Methuen.ISBN1136703292.Retrieved20 September2021.
  15. ^French, C. N."The 'Submerged Forest' palaeosols of Cornwall"(PDF).The 'Submerged Forest' Palaeosols of Cornwall. Geoscience in South-west England. 1999.9:365–369. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2 April 2015.Retrieved11 April2020.
  16. ^Ford, Trevor David (2002).Rocks & Scenery of the Peak District.Ashbourne, Derbyshire: Landmark Publishing Ltd. p. 80.
  17. ^Rieuwerts, J.H.; Ford, T. David. (1976). "Odin Mine".Bulletin of the Peak District Mines Historical Society.6(4): 7.
  18. ^Historic England."Odin Mine nucleated lead mine and ore works, 350m WNW of Knowlegates Farm (1014870)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved8 April2020.
  19. ^Loveluck, Christopher P.; McCormick, Michael; Spaulding, Nicole E.; Clifford, Heather; Handley, Michael J.; Hartman, Laura; Hoffmann, Helene; Korotkikh, Elena V.; Kurbatov, Andrei V.; More, Alexander F.; Sneed, Sharon B.; Mayewski, Paul A. (2018)."Alpine ice-core evidence for the transformation of the European monetary system, AD 640–670".Antiquity.92(366): 1571–1585.doi:10.15184/aqy.2018.110.S2CID165543389.
  20. ^"Alpine glacier reveals lead pollution from C12th Britain as bad as Industrial Revolution".www.nottingham.ac.uk.Retrieved8 April2020.
  21. ^Loveluck, Christopher P.; More, Alexander F.; Spaulding, Nicole E.; Clifford, Heather; Handley, Michael J.; Hartman, Laura; Korotkikh, Elena V.; Kurbatov, Andrei V.; Mayewski, Paul A.; Sneed, Sharon B.; McCormick, Michael (2020)."Alpine ice and the annual political economy of the Angevin Empire, from the death of Thomas Becket to Magna Carta, c. AD 1170–1216".Antiquity.94(374): 473–490.doi:10.15184/aqy.2019.202.S2CID216250193.
  22. ^Fraser, John Farquhar (1826).The Reports of Sir Edward Coke, Knt: In Thirteen Parts.Vol. 5. London: J. Butterworth & Son. p. 102.
  23. ^Simons, Paul."King Edward's I's clean air law".www.thetimes.co.uk.Retrieved11 April2020.
  24. ^abc"Air Pollution Goes Back Way Further Than You Think".www.smithsonianmag.com.Retrieved11 April2020.
  25. ^Thorsheim, Peter (2006).Inventing Pollution: Coal, Smoke, and Culture in Britain since 1800.Ohio University Press. p. 4.ISBN0821442104.Retrieved20 September2021.
  26. ^Friedrich, Johannes; Damassa, Thomas (21 May 2014)."The History of Carbon Dioxide Emissions".www.wri.org.Retrieved11 April2020.
  27. ^"ALKALI ACT (1863)—PETITION FOR AMENDMENT.—OBSERVATIONS".api.parliament.uk.Retrieved12 April2020.
  28. ^Fowler, David;Brimblecombe, Peter;Burrows, John; Heal, Mathew; Grennfelt, Peringe; et al. (30 October 2020)."A chronology of global air quality".Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.378(2183).Bibcode:2020RSPTA.37890314F.doi:10.1098/rsta.2019.0314.PMC7536029.PMID32981430.
  29. ^Fuller, Gary (2019).The Rising Global Threat of Air Pollution – and How We Can Fight Back.London: Melville House. pp. 23–35.ISBN9781911545514.... John Switzer Owens, who more than any other person would define the transformation of air pollution science from the haphazard investigations of Victorian gentlemen into a systematic national surveillance program...
  30. ^Brimblecombe, Peter(1987).The Big Smoke: A History of Air Pollution in London Since Medieval Times.London: Routledge. pp. 132, 149.ISBN9781136703294.... J.S.Owens, who did so much to set up the early monitoring network in the British Isles...
  31. ^abMosley, Stephen (1 August 2009)."'A Network of Trust': Measuring and Monitoring Air Pollution in British Cities, 1912–1960 ".Environment and History.15(3): 273–302.doi:10.3197/096734009X12474738131074.ISSN0967-3407.
  32. ^Masson, David Orme; Chubb, Laurence Wensley (1911)."Smoke".InChisholm, Hugh(ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 276.
  33. ^"AIR POLLUTION".api.parliament.uk.Retrieved12 April2020.
  34. ^Nielsen, John (2002-12-12)."The Killer Fog of '52: Thousands died as Poisonous Air Smothered London".National Public Radio.
  35. ^"On this Day: 1952 London Fog Clears After days of Chaos".BBC News. 2005-12-09.
  36. ^Bell, M.L.; Davis, D.L.; Fletcher, T. (2004)."A Retrospective Assessment of Mortality from the London Smog Episode of 1952: The Role of Influenza and Pollution".Environ Health Perspect.112(1, January): 6–8.doi:10.1289/ehp.6539.PMC1241789.PMID14698923.
  37. ^Brimblecombe, Peter(2006)."The clean air act after 50 years".Weather.61(11): 311–314.Bibcode:2006Wthr...61..311B.doi:10.1256/wea.127.06.S2CID123552841.Retrieved18 August2021.
  38. ^Whitty, Chris(8 December 2022)."Chief Medical Officer's annual report 2022: air pollution".UK Government.Department of Health and Social Care.Retrieved29 January2023.
  39. ^Weaver, Matthew (3 April 2014)."Smog alert: 'very high' air pollution levels spread across England".The Guardian.
  40. ^Mason, Rowena (3 April 2014)."David Cameron accused of playing down role of pollution in UK smog".The Guardian.
  41. ^"Court orders UK to cut NO2 air pollution".BBC News.BBC. 29 April 2015.Retrieved29 April2015.
  42. ^"UK Supreme Court orders Government to take" immediate action "on air pollution".ClientEarth. 29 April 2015. Archived fromthe originalon 5 May 2015.Retrieved29 April2015.
  43. ^"Diesel cars in London cause three times as much pollution as trucks and lorries".
  44. ^"The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA): Air Pollution".Archived fromthe originalon 2009-04-06.Retrieved2010-08-25.
  45. ^"LAQM Air Quality Management Areas".Archived fromthe originalon 2009-04-02.Retrieved2010-08-25.
  46. ^"London Air Quality Network – The comprehensive source of information about air pollution in London – Home".
  47. ^Taking the Oxford air adds up to a 60-a-day habit(a newspaper article inThe Guardian)
  48. ^"Home- Defra, UK".www.airquality.co.uk.Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
  49. ^"UK National Air Quality Objectives".Archived fromthe originalon 2009-04-17.Retrieved2010-08-25.
  50. ^Current Air Pollution BulletinArchived2006-01-13 at theWayback Machine
  51. ^"Daily Air Quality Index- Defra, UK".www.airquality.co.uk.Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
  52. ^"BBC Weather Service".
  53. ^"Air Pollution – What it means for your health".Archived fromthe originalon 2009-04-12.Retrieved2010-08-25.
  54. ^Patients at thousands of hospitals and GP practices 'breathing toxic air'The Guardian
  55. ^UK children inhaling toxic air on school run and in classroomThe Guardian
  56. ^UK is endangering people's health by denying their right to clean air, says UNThe Guardian
  57. ^"THE TOXIC SCHOOL RUN".Unicef UK. October 2018.Retrieved31 October2018.
  58. ^UK children face winter health crisis due to pollution, say doctorsThe Guardian
  59. ^Snaith, Emma (2019-03-25)."Two-thirds of teachers 'support banning cars near school gates'".The Independent.Archivedfrom the original on 2019-03-26.Retrieved2019-03-29.
  60. ^abcTaylor, Matthew; Sedghi, Amy (8 April 2019)."Londoners support charging 'dirty' drivers, says air pollution study".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved2020-03-12– via www.theguardian.com.
  61. ^abCollinson, Patrick (5 January 2019)."London's ultra-low emission zone: what you need to know".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved2020-03-12– via www.theguardian.com.
  62. ^"Air pollution 'kills 40,000 a year' in the UK, says report".nhs.uk.23 February 2016.Retrieved2020-03-12.
  63. ^"Seventy per cent of vehicles meet new Ulez standards in first weeks of charge ROSS LYDALL".London Evening Standard.Retrieved5 May2019.
  64. ^Taylor, Matthew (16 May 2019)."ULEZ cuts number of worst polluting cars in central London".TheGuardian.com.
  65. ^"London Mayor confirms Ultra-Low Emission Zone will start in 2019".www.fleetnews.co.uk.
  66. ^"ULEZ: The politics of London's air pollution".BBC News.5 April 2019.
  67. ^"Ulez expansion revealed to have cut 'dirty' vehicles by over a third".10 December 2021.
  68. ^"Ulez expanded to include whole of outer London".BBC News.29 August 2023.
  69. ^Finnis, Alex (10 January 2019)."One hour on the tube is as toxic as standing next to a busy road for an entire day".iNews.
  70. ^Oglesby, Kate (12 January 2019). "Dust and air pollution higher on Northern Line than any other part of the Underground".The Times.
  71. ^[email protected], Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)."Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs)- Defra, UK".uk-air.defra.gov.uk.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  72. ^"Action Planning Guidance and Help. Action Planning. Local Air Quality Management Support – Defra, UK".Laqm.defra.gov.uk. 2010-04-05.Retrieved2018-10-02.
  73. ^"List of Local Authorities with AQMAs – Defra, UK".Uk-air.defra.gov.uk.Retrieved2018-10-02.
  74. ^"Idling Vehicles Contribute to Air Pollution".www.dudley.gov.uk.
  75. ^"Emissions of air pollutants".22 February 2023.
  76. ^Hawkes N (May 2015). "Air pollution in UK: the public health problem that won't go away".BMJ.350:h2757.doi:10.1136/bmj.h2757.PMID26001592.S2CID40717317.
  77. ^Carrington, Damian (2021-02-16)."Wood burning at home now biggest cause of UK particle pollution".The Guardian.Retrieved2022-02-13.
  78. ^"Burn better: Making changes for cleaner air".
  79. ^"Guidance for wood burning in London".
  80. ^"Log burners: What are the new rules and are they going to be banned?".Independent.co.uk.6 February 2023.
  81. ^"New diesel and petrol cars face 2040 ban".26 July 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  82. ^Chrisafis, Angelique; Vaughan, Adam (6 July 2017)."France to ban sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2040".The Guardian.
  83. ^"Electric Mini to be built in Oxford".25 July 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  84. ^Vaughan, Adam (5 July 2017)."All Volvo cars to be electric or hybrid from 2019".The Guardian.
  85. ^abThorsheim, Peter (16 April 2018).Inventing Pollution: Coal, Smoke, and Culture in Britain since 1800.Ohio University Press.ISBN978-0-8214-4627-0.
  86. ^Reed, Peter (2016).Acid Rain and the Rise of the Environmental Chemist: in Nineteenth-Century Britain The Life and Work of Robert Angus Smith.Taylor & Francis. pp. 9–10.ISBN9781317185833.Retrieved26 September2023.
  87. ^Mangham, Andrew (24 June 2021). "9: Medicine, Sanitary Reform, and Literature of Urban Poverty". In Mangham, Andrew; Lawlor, Clark (eds.).Literature and Medicine: Volume 2: The Nineteenth Century.Cambridge University Press. p. 179.ISBN9781108420747.Retrieved26 September2023.
  88. ^Kargon, Robert H. (1977).Science in Victorian Manchester: Enterprise and Expertise.New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers. pp. 115–116.ISBN978-1-4128-3373-8.Retrieved26 September2023.
  89. ^Shaw, Napier; Owens, John Switzer (1925).The Smoke Problem of Great Cities.London: Constable & Company. p. viii.Retrieved23 September2023.
  90. ^Wilson, Sarah (8 October 2022)."'Imagine if all politicians were affected': The battle to end air pollution ".The Big Issue.Retrieved23 December2022.
  91. ^"Clean Air Day 2018: UK's largest air pollution campaign".Gov.uk.Public Health England.Retrieved4 January2022.
  92. ^"Air Pollution".Client Earth.Retrieved23 September2023.
  93. ^"Millions of people in the UK with lung conditions could be at risk from toxic air – new estimates".Asthma+Lung UK.14 June 2022.Retrieved23 September2023.
  94. ^"Time to Breathe: Air Pollution Campaign".British Safety Council.Retrieved23 September2023.
  95. ^Fuller, Gary (13 January 2023)."Pollutionwatch: citizen science helps raise alarm on UK air pollution".The Guardian.Retrieved23 September2023.
  96. ^"Public to measure UK air pollution in huge citizen science project".Friends of the Earth UK.1 March 2017.Retrieved23 September2023.
  97. ^Boseley, Sarah (2 April 2015)."Air pollution may cause more UK deaths than previously thought, say scientists".Retrieved24 August2021.
  98. ^"Air pollution is 'likely' to raise dementia risk, find UK government expert".The Guardian.27 July 2022.Retrieved27 July2022.
  99. ^Carrington, Damian (4 August 2017)."Electric cars are not the answer to air pollution, says top UK adviser".The Guardian.Retrieved22 August2021.
  100. ^Lewis, Alastair."Clean air strategy: what you need to know about the UK's latest pollution policy".The Conversation.Retrieved2018-06-26.

Further reading

edit

Key facts and statistics

edit

General introductions

edit

History of air pollution

edit

Others

edit
edit

Media related toAir pollution in the United Kingdomat Wikimedia Commons