Exposure to air pollution leads to obesity: Study 

Posted on April 1, 2016 by Respro® UK Ltd

Exposure to air pollution leads to obesity and makes people prone to other lifestyle diseases such as hypertension and heart disease, a study has revealed.

The study published in the Journal of Federation of the American Society of Experimental Biology said surveys have shown that high exposure to air pollution also increases insulin resistance, which is the precursor of diabetes Type 2.

“The link between air pollution and obesity is indeed a new subject of concern. While it is already well established that toxic air is causing more damage than just to the respiratory system, but its link with obesity is certainly worrisome, because then indirectly it will also lead to a rise in obesity linked complications, like hypertension, heart diseases and type 2 diabetes etc,” it said.

Researchers reached the conclusion after they placed pregnant rats and their offspring in two chambers, one exposed to outdoor air and the other containing an air filter that removed most of the air pollutant particles.

After 19 days, the lungs and livers of the pregnant rats exposed to the polluted air were heavier and showed increased tissue inflammation. These rats had 50 per cent higher LDL (bad) cholesterol and 97 percent higher total cholesterol.

Their insulin resistance level, a precursor of Type-2 diabetes, was also higher.

At the age of eight weeks, female and male rats exposed to the pollution were 10 per cent and 18 per cent heavier respectively than those exposed to clean air.

Talking on the prevention of obesity due to air pollution, S.P. Byotra, head of the department of medicine at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said: “Given the level of pollution people are exposed to in metros, installing air purifiers at home can be one of the best solutions for air pollution, which is a cause for various types of diseases.”

According to the study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in 2015, indoor exposure to fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) from outdoor sources was a major health concern, especially in highly polluted developing countries.

Source: Exposure to air pollution leads to obesity: Study – Times of India

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Huge cruise ships will worsen London air pollution, campaigners warn 

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Respro® UK Ltd

Resident groups mounting a high court challenge to plans for a new wharf in Greenwich say diesel emissions from docked liners would breach legal limits

Toxic fumes from large cruise liners powered by giant diesel engines will worsen London’s air pollution and could prevent the city from meeting its EU legal limits on deadly nitrogen oxide emissions, says resident groups opposing a new terminal.

Plans for a wharf in the Thames that would be able to handle 240 metre-long cruise liners carrying up to 1,800 passengers and 600 crew were approved by Greenwich council last July but are being challenged in the high court by residents.

Developers say that 55 liners a year, each weighing around 48,000 tonnes, would be expected to spend up to three days “hotelling” at Greenwich. Using their auxiliary diesel engines while moored, they would burn around 700 litres of diesel an hour for six months of the year in a borough considered a hot spot for air pollution.

Consultants have calculated that each ship would emit the equivalent of 688 heavy lorries permanently running their engines at Enderby Wharf in Greenwich.

But larger ships, potentially the size of the 12-deck high Crystal Symphony, may also be allowed to moor at Enderby and would emit as many diesel fumes as 2,000 lorries a day, say objectors.

“On top of the ships the port will need tugs, hundreds of taxis and service vehicles all belching diesel close to high-density housing in an already heavily polluted area. I am aghast. Greenwich is already breaching EU limits. The council must know that 10,000 people a year die from diesel fumes a year in London,” said Ralph Hardwick, a campaigner from the Isle of Dogs.

“The alternative is to supply clean onshore power to the cruise vessels rather than running filthy diesel engines. Yet the current planning permission does not require a cleaner operation. Nor has a health feasibility study been undertaken,” said a spokesman for East Greenwich Residents Association.

A spokeswoman for London City cruise port declined to comment pending the legal challenge.

The residents will argue in court that the council should have required the development to provide an onshore power supply for the ships. If so, the liners could turn their engines off while berthed. Instead, it accepted the developers’ argument that it was not “commercially viable”.

The legal challenge follows law firm ClientEarth taking the UK government to court for a second time over what it says are its repeated failures to tackle illegal levels of air pollution in London and other UK cities. Last year the supreme court forced the government to rethink its plans to meet EU limits.

Concern about air pollution from cruise ships is growing as a new generation of mega-liners is commissioned and cruise holidays become more popular. The largest liners are now effectively floating cities, able to take 8,000 passengers and crew. Powered by some of the largest diesel engines in the world, they burn hundreds of tonnes of fuel a day.

“Air pollution emissions from ships are continuously growing, while land-based emissions are gradually coming down. If things are left as they are, by 2020 shipping will be the biggest single emitter of air pollution in Europe, even surpassing the emissions from all land-based sources together,” said a spokesman with Brussels-based Transport & Environment group.

Air pollution from international shipping accounts for around 50,000 premature deaths per year in Europe, at an annual cost to society of more than €58bn, according to studies.

In Southampton, one of nine UK towns and cities cited by the World Health Organisation as breaching air quality guidelines, up to five large liners a day can be berthed in the docks at the same time, all running engines 24/7, said Chris Hines, vice-chair of the Southampton Western Docks Consultation Forum (WDCF).

Southampton is one of the world’s busiest ports for starting and ending sea cruises. “Pollution from the ships is leading to asthma and other chest diseases. The docks are the most polluted areas of Southampton. The pollution is getting worse. We are now getting more, bigger liners, but also very large bulk cargo ships,” said Hines.

Under EU law, ships must switch to their auxiliary engines and burn low-sulphur fuel within two hours of arriving in port until two hours before they leave. However, there are no regulations on how much NOx and particulate emissions they can emit.

Low-sulphur fuel has greatly reduced SO2, or “acid rain” pollution but not other toxins like nitrogen oxides, benzene, toluene and formaldehyde which are emitted in diesel fuel and can have serious health impacts.

According to the Southampton city council scrutiny committee, admissions to hospital from lung, chest and heart diseases are most common from polluted areas like the docks.

According to evidence given to the committee by WDCF, the cumulative effect of up to 20 or more ships in port at the same time, including many large cruise liners with large diesel engines, was a major concern to the public. Incidences of lung diseases in the city and hospital admissions for respiratory diseases linked to air pollution were much higher than the average in England, it was said.

Emissions can be reduced by 95% if ships and ports are adapted allow ships a shoreside electricity supply but this is resisted by the industry on grounds of practicality.

According to Royal Caribbean, one of the largest cruise line companies in the world, only six out of the 490 ports that their ships visit have shore power.

In evidence to the scrutiny committee, Royal Caribbean said: “If Southampton were to explore installing shore power, it would be important to note that ships may not come equipped to use it. The European Union has stated that emissions reductions of only 1-3% of emissions are seen during a seven-night cruise during which a ship could use shore power at every port on the itinerary.”

Source: Huge cruise ships will worsen London air pollution, campaigners warn | Environment | The Guardian

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University “shed” could hold the key to fighting deadly and tiny air pollution particles 

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Respro® UK Ltd

THIS humble shed could hold the key to fighting ultra fine deadly pollution particles.

The Argus was among a small select group of media invited to look round the University of Brighton‘s ground-breaking air-pollution monitoring station at their Falmer campus yesterday.

The state-of-the-art station will be used to learn about the ultra-fine particles in the Sussex air whose health impacts are even more damaging than the recognised PM10 and PM2.5 particulates which current legislation protects us from.

The station will be used to find out bout more ultra fine particles affecting not just victim’s respiratory systems but also damaging nervous systems, the brain and causing cancers.

The particles, for which there are currently no “safe” legislated limits, are a particular threat to the vulnerable including children, the elderly and those with respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Data released this week has shown that the scientific instruments at the monitoring station have successfully detected the ultra-fine particles at a trial run in London last summer.

Lead investigator Dr Kirsty Smallbone said the £750,000 research project, funded by the EU Interreg fund and the University of Brighton, needs to be running for a year to draw any meaningful data from it.

As well as attempting to reduce transport levels causing the pollution, University of Brighton researchers said public bodies may also want to consider air condition filters on schools and hospitals in high pollution areas to capture some of the harmful pollutants.

Researchers said the ultra-fine particles were like a pinhead compared to a PM10 “football”, which are already the fraction of a human hair, which has made them difficult traditionally to detect.

Principal researcher Dr Kevin Wyche said a lot more work was needed but the research could help to shape future legislation in finding safe levels for these ultra-fine particles as the EU currently sets its members safe limits for PM10 and even reshape policy on what is considered safe traffic levels in cities and towns.

Dr Smallbone said: “Air pollution is important and we need to take it more seriously.

“I would like to see more infrastructure [in Brighton] to encourage safe cycling, more affordable public transport and more joined up thinking.”

Keith Taylor, Green MEP for the South East and former Brighton and Hove City Councillor, said: “It’S clear that currently we are not doing enough on air pollution, that is why the British Government has been taken to the Supreme Court and the European Court for failing to conform to the European air quality standards.

“All over the UK, local authorities need to rise to the challenge that air pollution represents and do whatever it takes to improve people’s health and save lives.

“Because of cross-border challenges such as air pollution, we need cross-border solutions and to me that justifies the position and the need to stay in Europe.”

Source: University “shed” could hold the key to fighting deadly and tiny air pollution particles (From )

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Mexico City orders all cars off the road one day a week to tackle air pollution 

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Respro® UK Ltd

In addition vehicles must stay off the road one Saturday a month as the Mexican capital grapples with its worst air-quality crisis in over a decade

Authorities in Mexico City have temporarily ordered all cars to remain idle one day a week in response to this notoriously smoggy capital’s worst air-quality crisis in over a decade.

Until now vehicles have been exempt from the Mexican capital’s “no circulation” rules if owners obtain a holographic sticker from a smog-check centre certifying them as lower-emission.

But the Environmental Commission of the Megalopolis, a cross-government agency comprising the capital and surrounding suburbs that together are home to more than 20 million people, said via Twitter that all cars must now comply, even if they have the exemption sticker.

Vehicles will also be forced to remain idle one Saturday a month.

The measure will begin on Tuesday and run until 30 June, around the time that summer rains typically arrive and improve the region’s air quality significantly.

Officials have been meeting to consider anti-pollution measures since a Phase 1 emergency due to high ozone levels – the first since 2005 – was declared two weeks ago, when warm temperatures and still air left pollution trapped in Mexico City’s volcano-ringed valley.

At the time, government officials and environmental activists pinned at least some of the blame on a supreme court decision last year that overturned a rule barring all cars over eight years old from the streets one day a week.

The ruling is said to have put an extra 1.4m vehicles back on the roads each day.

Smog levels dropped significantly during Easter Week, when much of Mexico City empties out due to the holiday. But on Wednesday afternoon authorities were reporting a pollution index of 108 – officially “bad”, though about half the levels recorded at the peak of the Phase 1 alert.

The commission said that starting on 1 July, more modern technology will be put in place at smog-check centres. Vehicles are supposed to get checked every six months, though it’s common knowledge that for a bribe of $20 or so drivers can ensure a car comes out “clean”.

“The definitive ‘no circulation’ program will align with the new rule for vehicular verification that will be presented soon,” the federal environment secretary, Rafael Pacchiano, tweeted.

Pacchiano said that in addition to Wednesday’s emergency measures, authorities are working on medium-term solutions including improvements to public transportation.

Source: Mexico City orders all cars off the road one day a week to tackle air pollution | World news | The Guardian

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U.S. preterm births tied to air pollution cost $4 billion a year

Posted on March 30, 2016 by Respro® UK Ltd

U.S. premature births linked to air pollution cost more than $4 billion a year in medical care and lost economic opportunity, a new analysis estimates.

Almost 16,000 babies arrive early each year due at least in part to air pollution, according to researchers who analyzed air quality data and birth records.

Annual costs associated with these preemies include nearly $3.6 billion (about 3.2 billion euros) in lost wages and productivity due to physical and mental deficits tied to the early arrivals as well as $760 million (about 678 million euros) for extended hospitalizations and long-term use of medications, researchers calculated.

“Air pollution-associated preterm birth contributes direct medical costs in the first few years of life due to associated conditions, such as in the newborn intensive care unit, as well as lost economic productivity due to developmental disabilities and lost cognitive potential,” lead study author Dr. Leonardo Trasande, an environmental health researcher at New York University School of Medicine in New York City, said by email.

Pregnancy normally lasts about 40 weeks, and babies born after 37 weeks are considered full term.

In the weeks immediately after birth, premature infants often have difficulty breathing and digesting food. They can also encounter longer-term challenges such as impaired vision, hearing, and cognitive skills as well as social and behavioral problems.

The U.S. preterm birth rate declined to 11.4 percent in 2013 from a peak of 12.8 percent in 2006 but remains far higher than in other developed countries, Trasande and colleagues report in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Approximately 3 percent of preterm births in the U.S. can be attributed to air pollution, the researchers conclude, based on data from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Institute of Medicine.

Air pollution may contribute to the problem, because a buildup of toxic chemicals in the blood can cause immune system stress that weakens the placenta and shortens the amount of time the baby can remain in the womb.

Preterm births linked to air pollution were higher in urban counties, primarily in Southern California and the Eastern U.S., the analysis found.

One limitation of the study is that it can’t prove pollution causes preterm births, or why these two things may be connected, the authors note. The analysis also lacked data on individual exposure to air pollution that might influence how much toxins impacted pregnancy outcomes.

Previous research has linked air pollution to preterm births even after controlling for other factors that often coincide with living in areas with bad air, such as poverty or tobacco smoke exposure, noted Dr. Bruce Lanphear, a researcher at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia who wasn’t involved in the study. But toxic air is just one of many variables that can influence pregnancy outcomes.

“Preterm birth, as well as other diseases and disorders, are due to the cumulative impact of various risk factors and it isn’t constructive to continually pit one risk factor over another,” Lanphear added by email.

Limiting the effect of air pollution on preterm births requires improved air quality, which might be achieved through efforts such as cleaner energy technology, more public transportation, improved paths for cycling and walking, and positioning schools and daycare centers far from highways, Lanphear noted.

Women should also seek prenatal care early in pregnancy, particularly when they have had miscarriages or preterm births before, said Dr. Shruthi Mahalingaiah, a researcher at Boston University School of Medicine who wasn’t involved in the study.

Social, economic, emotional and medical issues all may come into play with preterm births, particularly because women who live in areas with worse air may also be in communities where people have fewer financial resources or less access to quality medical care, Mahalingaiah said by email.

“Preterm birth is a multifactorial issue,” she said.

SOURCE: 1.usa.gov/1pHVqHq Environmental Health Perspectives, online March 29, 2016.

Source: U.S. preterm births tied to air pollution cost $4 billion a year | Reuters

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The area where London is a world-leader: its polluted air

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Respro® UK Ltd

Across Europe, Britain’s capital leads the way for the wrong reason.

London has been voted the most desirable place to work in the world, it’s the second most visited city on the planet and was recently crowned the most innovative global city However, it now also wins the award for the most polluted street on earth. It only took until 4January 2016 for Oxford Street to exceed the legal level of air pollution for the whole of 2016.

London’s air pollution problem is dreadful. It is caused primarily by traffic and diesel fumes, which, in a city as big and bustling as our capital, are pretty significant. Roughly 50 per cent of the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions in the city are caused by traffic.

Air pollution really is a matter of life and death. It causes 9,500 early deaths in London every year. Scientists say it can exacerbate respiratory problems and has long terms effects on child development. A study has suggested that living near busy, polluted roads could be responsible for up to 30 per cent of new cases of asthma in children. Nearly one in four of our capital’s school children breathe air that breaches EU limits, with children in inner boroughs exposed to particularly harmful levels of pollution.

The health consequences are stark and the economic costs are not insignificant. The World Health Organisation estimates that the UK suffers just under £54 billion in economic costs associated with air pollution.  So for the health and prosperity of London, it is absolutely vital that we tackle air pollution as a matter of urgency. And with London’s election campaign getting into the full swing, the mayoral hopefuls need to show the capital they are up to the task.  But their challenge doesn’t stop there. This is a global problem and whoever leads London next must show global vision and global leadership. London can export its solutions too.

The solutions are available if leaders choose to prioritise combating air pollution. Spurred on by fines for consistently failing to meet EU regulations and by increasing pressure from campaigns on this issue, the current mayor, Boris Johnson, has taken action. He has forced older, more polluting cars off the road, made so- called Boris bikes available as a clean means of transport and will introduce the ultra low emissions zone in 2020. In June 2015 City Hall hosted the C40 global Clean Bus Summit, bringing together mayors from across the world to commit to greening their bus fleets. The world’s first fully electric-powered double decker bus will hit London’s roads in April 2016.

Just last week ClientEarth launched a new legal challenge against the UK government due to its repeated failure to tackle illegal levels of air pollution. If the case is won it would force the new mayor to take further action.

The two frontrunners in the upcoming mayoral election have both made commitments to tackle air pollution. Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith has said he will bring in tougher rules on HGVs in the city if elected, whilst Labour’s Sadiq Khan has stated that he wants to see the next generation of buses running on electricity.

But their ambition must be greater and much more must be done. The fact that diesel the biggest polluter necessitates a rapid and wholesale shift to low-emitting vehicles. But this alone is also insufficient  – we need to radically reduce the number of people using motor traffic in the city centre overall. This will mean switching to low carbon public transport and getting many more people using bikes and walking. We need better public information about the associated risks of air pollution, information that reaches vulnerable groups with advice on how to reduce their exposure. The coming election campaign will show whether the candidates are up to the scale of the challenge.

The size of the challenge should not deter us from making the commitment to a city with clean air and healthy citizens. London has faced similar challenges before and came through them. Sixty years ago London played its part in developing ground breaking environmental legislation in the form of the Clean Air Act following the Great Smog. This provided a gold standard for countries tackling similar problems. Under Ken Livingstone the city showed leadership on the environment with the introduction of the congestion charge. We need to show once again that London has the ambition and leadership to take this challenge on.

Once we have the intent and strategies to radically improve air quality here in London, the new mayor should use their status to drive these changes forward internationally. London is a leading global city, and air pollution is a truly global problem. The new mayor should see themselves as a leader in tackling this problem and taking the world with them.

While the solutions to reduce air pollution are clear and within reach, delivering meaningful change on this issue requires political prioritization. Currently, the issue simply doesn’t rank highly enough for global leaders and business to make the necessary changes. This is not the case in London, and the new mayor must make the case abroad.

With the issue so prominent in major cities internationally, and London being seen as a leader in so many ways – our response in the capital will be a test case for tackling the problem abroad. Following the compact of mayors in Paris last December, cities are increasingly seen as the means to accelerate a transition to a low carbon economy. London can and should accelerate this transition.

The issue has spurred innovative campaigns in cities like Delhi,where levels of air pollution can be 10 times higher than London. The “Help Delhi Breathe” campaign is seeking creative solutions to limit the number of cars accessing the city centre. Similar campaigns that are making a difference have started in Santiago and Mexico City.

The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group will be meeting in Mexico City for their bi-annual Mayors Summit in December 2016, one year on since nations agreed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. This event will offer a unique opportunity for the new Mayor of London to showcase their ambition on tackling emissions, learn from what other cities are doing and to demonstrate the leadership on climate action that many in London want to see from their leader.

The challenge is clear, and inaction will have heavy human and economic costs. The solutions to this crisis are available but require the political will and leadership to make them happen. The incoming mayor should seek to define themselves internationally by solving the challenge of air pollution at home and sharing best practices with other cities across the world. London must play a leading role in solving this increasingly acute international crisis.

Source: The area where London is a world-leader: its polluted air

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Alarm sounded on Yangon air pollution 

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Respro® UK Ltd

A massive influx in imported vehicles in recent years has contributed to deteriorating air quality in Yangon but information about pollution levels is yet to be released.

Air pollution is becoming more noticeable in Yangon and its effects can be seen throughout the former capital.

In 2015, looking from Mahabandoola Bridge across the bustling downtown area, it was possible to have a sharp, clear view of the gleaming Shwedagon Pagoda.

These days the view of the city from bridge is not completely clear and the Shwedagon Pagoda is slightly obscured by the tiny particles that cause pollution.

Air pollution is a mixture of solid particles and gases in the atmosphere that can cause serious respiratory problems.

The minute particles in the air that contribute to pollution can include chemicals such as carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ammonia, methane, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and hydrochloride.

The particles are dangerous but are impossible to avoid in a polluted environment and because humans breathe about twenty thousand litres of air a day they often lead to health problems.

The short-term symptoms from exposure to air pollution include itchy eyes, nose and throat, wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, chest pain, headaches, nausea, and upper respiratory infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia. Other illnesses associated with air pollution include asthma and emphysema.

Long-term effects can include lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory illness, and allergies. The World Health Organization says air pollution is also associated with heart attacks and strokes.

The air in Yangon has been heavily polluted by the influx of vehicles in recent years, said Dr Kyaw Nyein Aye, an environmental specialist with the Ecological Laboratory (Eco-Lab), a group in Kamaryut Township that measures soil and water pollution for civil society groups.

“Everybody knows that Yangon’s pollution has reached levels not seen before,” Dr Kyaw Nyein Aye, toldFrontier.

“Too many cars being in Yangon use low quality engine oil, which is contributing to the air pollution,” he said. The number of vehicles in the country has soared since imports were liberalised in 2011. Yangon has an estimated 750,000 vehicles, triple the number since 2008.

A car emits four times the weight of the vehicle in carbon dioxide a year, said Yangon City Development Committee, that has been compiling data from three fixed locations and 64 mobile units to measure air pollution in the city. The results will not be released until the end of this month after approval is given by the city mayor, said U Hla Myint, an assistant officer at the YCDC’s Pollution Control and Cleansing Department.

The Department of Environmental Conservation has also been compiling air pollution data, said U Myo Lwin, a former senior official with the department.

“I heard it started measuring the [particulate] matter in the air using PM10 and PM2.5 but couldn’t release the data,” U Myo Lwin said, referring to the standards used to measure levels of particulate matter in the atmosphere.

Air quality in Yangon is affected by industrial pollution as well as vehicle emissions. There are 29 industrial zones in Yangon and although not all factories belch greenhouse gases many produce waste water.

Under the 2012 Environmental Protection Law, the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry sets quality standards on factory emissions, effluents, solid waste, production procedures, processes and products.

Deforestation in Yangon Region has also had a negative effect on air quality.

“Yangon does not have many green places and forests,” U Tin Aye, secretary of the Myanmar Forestry Association, told Frontier. “Many of the forests and green spaces were destroyed in the last two decades by the wood industry, or used for coal or brick production, so carbon dioxide and other chemical compounds are increasing in the air,” he said.

The Yangon Region is almost completely deforested, said U Myo Lwin, the former Yangon Region director of the Department of Environmental Conservation, under MOECAF.

The department was established in 2012 by President U Thein Sein and five regional sub-offices were opened the following year, including in Yangon and Mandalay. In 2015, sub-offices were opened in all 14 states and regions.

In 2010 Yangon Region had almost 360,000 acres of forest cover, but it had fallen by more than half to 160,000 acres this year, show Forestry Department figures that put the deforestation rate at 11.2 percent a year.

“Too many forests were destroyed, that is clear,” said U Tin Aye.

“This is related to air pollution, water shortages and temperatures changing in the last five years in Myanmar. The reduction of forests also has an impact on air pollution because plants absorb carbon dioxide and other particles in the air,” he said.

City residents have noticed the change for the worse in air quality.

“I don’t know what air pollution is, but I know the sky is not clear this year,” said Ma Nyein Nyein, a teller at a private bank at Yuzana Garden City. “It is too hot, too dusty, too cloudy and there’s been too much rain and wind in the past two years. That is not only dangerous for people in Yangon, but people throughout Myanmar,” she said.

Source: Alarm sounded on Yangon air pollution | Frontier Myanmar

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Revealed: Millions of Londoners breathed in deadly smog this month 

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Respro® UK Ltd

Millions of Londoners breathed air contaminated with record-breaking levels of a harmful pollutant for which there is no known safe exposure this month, the Standard has learned.

Every air quality monitoring site in the capital hit “high” or “very high” during the smog episode from Thursday March 10 to Sunday March 13.

The minute particles, known as PM2.5, are particularly dangerous because they can penetrate deep into lung tissue and are too small to be filtered out by the body’s normal defences.

The “spike” in smog was caused by dirty air from industrial areas of Germany, Holland and Poland — as well as from fertilisers being sprayed on farmland — drifting towards south-east England on an easterly air flow.

Once it reached London it was trapped by still anti-cyclonic conditions, and made even filthier by the usual daily emissions from London’s vehicles, particularly from diesel engines.

The peak day was the Saturday when 11 out of the 18 measuring sites in London hit “very high” with the rest on “high”.

These were the worst readings since PM2.5 started to be measured in 2012 because of growing concern about its impact on health.

The move followed a report from the Government’s Air Quality Expert Group that found spikes in PM2.5 levels were linked to “increases in hospital admissions and premature death of the old and sick due to diseases of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems”.

Longer-term exposure is associated with lung cancer, and the report concluded “no wholly safe level has been identified”.

Professor Sir Malcolm Green, founder of the British Lung Foundation, has described breathing in high levels of PM2.5 as “like inhaling little particles of tar. They go right down into the lungs and can pass through the membrane into the bloodstream.”

Simon Birkett, founder of the Clean Air in London campaign, said: “It’s a national disgrace that it’s taken an investigation by the Evening Standard to unearth the worst air pollution episode in recent years.

“Worse, Sadiq Khan and Zac Goldsmith both refused to share our tweeted smog warnings at the time.”

Their Green rival mayoral candidate Sian Berry and Lib-Dem Caroline Pidgeon have both committed to introducing smog warnings for London if they are elected in May.

Source: Revealed: Millions of Londoners breathed in deadly smog this month | London | News | London Evening Standard

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