Archived press release

London smog - problems still exist 50 years on

5 December 2002

New health research shows cutting pollution would save hundreds of lives

Fifty years to the day from the start of the Great Smog [1], new health research shows that cutting pollution levels in London would save hundreds of lives every year. Government pollution targets are lower in London than in the rest of the UK.

Research recently published by the EU’s APHEIS project [2] shows that cutting levels of particle pollution [3] from the current annual average level of 22 microgrammes per cubic metre to 20 microgrammes per cubic metre would prevent 433 premature deaths every year from chronic (long-term) exposure [4].

Earlier this year the Government published revised targets for PM10 particle pollution. The target for London is an annual average level of 23 microgrammes per cubic metre, to be achieved by the end of 2010. The target for the rest of the UK is an annual average of 20 microgrammes per cubic metre, to be achieved by the same date. The reason for the difference between the targets, according to the Government, is because, in London “development, industrial activity and transport levels differ markedly from the rest of England” [5].

Friends of the Earth Pollution Campaigner Tony Bosworth said:
“Londoners cannot breathe easy on the fiftieth anniversary of the Great Smog thinking that air pollution problems have gone away. The pollution may not be visible but it is still deadly, and is killing hundreds of people prematurely every year. Londoners should have just as much right to breathe clean air as people in the rest of the country. But the Government has set weak pollution standards for London, rather than taking tough action to reduce pollution, especially from traffic“.

Notes

[1] The Great Smog of 1952 lasted from Friday 5th December to Tuesday 9th December, and killed an estimated 4,000 people.

[2] APHEIS stands for ‘Air Pollution and Health: a European Information System’. The findings on London pollution levels are taken from Medina S, Plasència A, Artazcoz L, Quénel P, Katsouyanni K, Mücke H.-G, De Saeger E, Krzyzanowsky M, Schwartz J and the contributing members of the APHEIS group APHEIS Health Impact Assessment of Air Pollution in 26 European Cities. Second year report, 2000-2001. Institut de Veille Sanitaire, Saint-Maurice. This was published last month.

[3] Particles are microscopically small specks of dust and soot. PM10 refers to particles less than 10 microns across – this is 1/100th of a millimetre. Fine particles can be carried deep into the lungs where they can cause inflammation and a worsening of heart and lung diseases. Road transport is responsible for 67.9% of PM10 emissions in London.

[4] The APHEIS research concluded that “the estimated reductions in the numbers of deaths attributable to the chronic effects of air pollution in London are not negligible – a reduction in the annual mean concentration of PM10 from 22 to 20 ug/m3 is associated with a reduction of 433 in the number of deaths”

APHEIS used the London Bloomsbury site for its measurements. This is classified as ‘urban background’.

[5] Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) press release 323/02 Cutting air pollution – tough new targets

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust