Respro® Bulletin Board

Supreme court orders UK to draw up air pollution cleanup plan

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Respro® UK Ltd

UK’s failure to meet EU limits on nitrogen dioxide must be tackled, court rules in case brought by NGO ClientEarth over government’s failure to act

The supreme court has ordered the government to make plans for tackling the UK’s air pollution problem, which has been in breach of EU limits for years and is linked to thousands of premature deaths each year.

London and several other British cities have failed to meet EU standards on nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels since 2010, running the risk of fines from Brussels and prompting a legal challenge by NGO ClientEarth.

On Wednesday, five judges unanimously ruled in the group’s favour and said the next environment secretary must draw up a plan to meet the EU rules by the end of 2015.

The NGO’s lawyer, Alan Andrews, said: “Air pollution kills tens of thousands of people in this country every year. We brought our case because we have a right to breathe clean air and today the supreme court has upheld that right.”

The legal battle revolved around whether the UK had fulfilled its obligations under the EU air quality directive which came into force in 2010. The outcome of today’s case could force the government to take bolder action on anti-pollution measures such as congestion charging zones.

Around 29,000 people die prematurely each year in the UK because of air pollution, according to Public Health England, and that figure is expected to be revised upwards later this year to take into account the health impacts of NO2.

The pollutant is a byproduct of diesel vehicles, and can cause breathing difficulties in vulnerable people, such as asthmatics and older adults, and can stunt the proper growth of lung function in children. Diesel car sales overtook petrol ones in 2010 and now account for a third of the UK fleet, partly becuase of favourable taxation.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson last year called for a diesel scrappage scheme to tackle air pollution after researchers said Oxford Street had the highest NO2 concentrations in the world, a call echoed by the City of London Corporation in response to the supreme court’s ruling.

Health and environment campaigners welcomed the court’s verdict.

Mike Hobday, director of policy at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Today’s ruling sends a clear message to the government: they must put plans in place to clean up the UK’s dirty air. The government has a duty to protect public health and ensure the air we breathe is safe – a duty they have so far failed to fulfil.”

“The public want our politicians to talk more about environmental issues during this election campaign,” said Doug Parr, chief scientist at Greenpeace. “The judgement today shows why – systematic failure on air pollution means we need better plans to stop fuel burning in city centres from impacting our health and well-being.”

A Defra spokeswoman said: “Air quality has improved significantly in recent years and as this judgement recognises, work is already underway on revised plans to meet EU targets on NO2 as soon as possible. It has always been the government’s position to submit these plans before the end of this year. Meeting NO2 limits is a common challenge across Europe with 17 member states exceeding limits.”

Maria Eagle, shadow environment secretary, said: “This supreme court ruling is a damning indictment of the Tory-led government’s total failure to tackle the UK’s air pollution which is causing tens of thousands of early deaths each year.

“Labour will deliver a national framework for low emission zones to enable local authorities to encourage cleaner, greener, less polluting vehicles to tackle this silent killer.”

On Tuesday, a study by the World Health Organisation put the financial cost of air pollution in Europe stands at more than $1.6tn (£1.5tn) a year. The WHO report was the first attempt to quantify the cost in economic terms.

The UK is not the only country in breach of EU air safety limits, with the European Environment Agency warning earlier this year that inaction by governments would see hundreds of thousands of Europeans die prematurely from pollution in the next 15 years.

via Supreme court orders UK to draw up air pollution cleanup plan | Environment | The Guardian.

Posted in Air Quality, Europe, London, UK | Tagged Air Pollution, Boris Johnson, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), diesel exhaust fumes, EU, London, London Mayor, Nitrogen Dioxide NO2, Oxford Street, UK, World Heath Organization (WHO) | Leave a comment

Air pollution causes low birth weight, Beijing study shows

Posted on April 29, 2015 by Respro® UK Ltd

The reduction in air pollution achieved during the 2008 Beijing Olympics resulted in an increase in birth weight, new research has shown

Air pollution causes babies to be born smaller, according to a study of babies born just after the Beijing Olympics.

The research surveyed the birth weights of 83,672 babies born in Beijing around the time of the 2008 Olympics, when the government closed down industry, raised vehicle emissions standards, stopped construction and introduced a license plate rotation to slash the number of vehicles on the road.

The massive state intervention created a one-off natural laboratory in which air pollution levels in one of the most choked cities on Earth reduced by between 18% and 59% during the summer of 2008. Birth weights were an average of 23g higher for babies who were in the eight month of pregnancy during the summer of the Games than during the same period in 2007 and 2009 .

“These findings not only illustrate one of the many significant health consequences of pollution, but also demonstrate that this phenomenon can be reversed,” said associate professor David Rich, a health scientist from the University of Rochester in the US.

Air pollution increases chances of low birth-weight babies

“Even a short term reduction in pollution in a community has a very large public health impact. Some of these babies will have fewer complications or diseases later in life. So any time we can improve or increase birth weight we’re protecting not only the babies when they are born, but also in later life,” he said.

Rich said that when the results were extrapolated beyond Beijing’s smoggy suburbs the total impact of air pollution was massive. “A major percentage of the world’s population lives in environments with pollution levels this high. You could name a lot of those cities in China and India. But this shouldn’t be thought of as only a problem in cites with very high air pollution. Even in cities that have lower pollution we see effects on birth weight.”

Mothers who were between one and seven months pregnant during the Beijing Olympics gave birth to babies of a similar size in all three years studied. Rich said the short period of lower pollution, and these mothers’ subsequent exposure to higher levels before giving birth, did not prove that no positive effect occurred from cleaner air during the early months of pregnancy.

But the study showed that during late pregnancy air pollution was restricting the fastest phase of foetal development. Rich said this was likely due to a restriction of nutrient delivery through the placenta, but the precise reason was unknown.

Air pollution has been identified as one of the biggest environmental health risks facing people worldwide. Long term exposure has been shown to cause millions of deaths.

The new study, published on Tuesday in Environmental Health Perspectives, follows other work that has shown pollution can have an insidious effect even before our lungs have started breathing air.

Jonathan Griggs, a paediatric professor at Queen Mary University of London, said it strengthened this body of evidence. He said that 23g was a small impact on an individual child, but the impact for some vulnerable children would be larger and could push thousands of children in Beijing into a “clinically significant low birth weight” category of below 2.5kg.

“It absolutely does matter because this is showing that dirty air breathed in by mothers can have adverse effects on the developing foetus,” said Griggs.

Children born at a clinically low weight are at greater risk of dying in infancy and are more susceptible to disease. Studies have also linked low birth weight toasthma and decreased lung function in adulthood.

“I wonder, hypothetically, if you told women that drinking bottled water vs tap water would increase their foetus’ growth by on average 23g – would they dismiss this as irrelevant? It should therefore be the right of all pregnant women to have as clean air as possible,” said Griggs.

via Air pollution causes low birth weight, Beijing study shows | Environment | The Guardian.

Posted in Air Quality, Asia, China, Health Effects of Air Pollution | Tagged 2008 Beijing Olympics, Air Pollution, Beijing, China, Health Effects of Air Pollution, Research | Leave a comment

Londoners demand David Cameron and Ed Miliband tackle London’s ‘toxic’ air pollution

Posted on April 29, 2015 by Respro® UK Ltd

Londoners today demanded David Cameron and Ed Miliband do more to tackle “toxic” air pollution blighting the city.

Ahead of a Supreme Court judgement on Britain’s failure to meet a key EU air quality standard, nearly seven out of ten Londoners accused political leaders of not doing enough or ignoring the problem altogether of “silent killer” fumes on the capital’s streets.

Ninety per cent of Liberal Democrat supporters voiced this view, as did nearly three quarters of Labour backers and 72 per cent of Londoners intending to vote Conservative on May 7.

The stark findings in a YouGov poll for The Standard piled pressure on the Prime Minister, Labour leader, Nick Clegg and Boris Johnson to dramatically step up action to clean up London’s air.

“It’s not surprising that so many Londoners think politicians aren’t doing enough to tackle air pollution,” said Green leader Natalie Bennett.

“The Government’s inaction on air pollution is inexcusable, and follows a general trend from the Establishment parties of side-lining issues such as climate change and air quality.”

Most of the country’s pollution black spots are in the capital and scientists say thousands of Londoners are dying prematurely a year due to filthy air.

Tomorrow the Government will be in the dock when senior judges deliver a landmark ruling, in a case brought by campaign group ClientEarth, over the UK missing deadlines to cut nitrogen dioxide levels.

Levels in London are only set to fall within EU limits after 2030 and the Supreme Court judgement could force ministers to take more decisive action.

Coalition rifts were laid bare today over measures in recent years to reduce levels of NO2 and particulate pollution in London, which is partly blamed on older diesel vehicles.

The Conservatives stressed Mayor of London Boris Johnson had been driving forward “the most comprehensive and ambitious measures in the world” to improve London’s air quality, with the cleanest large bus fleet of any city and taxi age limits taking thousands of the oldest and most polluting cabs off the road.

“This has meant that emissions of particulate matter has reduced by 15 per cent and oxides of nitrogen by 20 per cent and the numbers of Londoners living in areas of poor air quality has halved,” said a Tory spokesman.

The Mayor’s ultra low emission zone, due to be enforced from 2020, would be “transformative” for London’s air quality, he added.

But Lib-Dem Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said: ““We’ve been let down by Boris and the Conservatives who simply haven’t seen this as a priority.

“Air pollution is now a serious health risk and Liberal Democrats want to see swift nationwide action.”

Shadow environment minister Barry Gardiner said London was faced with a “public health crisis”.

Labour’s plan to improve air quality is focussed on devolving power and supporting town halls “to take action against this silent killer,” he added.

The survey also showed Lib-Dem backers were the most dismayed about political parties’ stance on air pollution, with 27 per cent of them believing they were ignoring the problem altogether.

More Labour supporters, 30 per cent, thought political leaders were talking about pollution but not doing anywhere near enough.

While 44 per cent of Londoners intending to vote Conservatives said the parties were taking some action but not doing enough.

One in 14 Ukip backers said “too much action” was being taken on pollution in the capital.

Tanya Abraham of YouGov: “Hardly any Londoners think political parties are taking enough action around air pollution in the capital. Campaigners will be hoping these figures bring more focus on this subject. Whether politicians will do anything about it remains to be seen, however.”

via Londoners demand David Cameron and Ed Miliband tackle London’s ‘toxic’ air pollution – London – News – London Evening Standard.

Posted in Air Quality, Europe, London, UK | Tagged Air Pollution, Boris Johnson, London, London Mayor, UK, Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) | Leave a comment

Air pollution costs European economies US$ 1.6 trillion a year in diseases and deaths, new WHO study says

Posted on April 29, 2015 by Respro® UK Ltd

A staggering US$ 1.6 trillion is the economic cost of the approximate 600 000 premature deaths and of the diseases caused by air pollution in the WHO European Region in 2010, according to the first-ever study of these costs conducted for the Region. The amount is nearly equivalent to one tenth of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the entire European Union in 2013.

The new study was published today by the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as a 3-day high-level meeting on environment and health in Europe opens. Over 200 representatives from European countries and international and nongovernmental organizations gather in Haifa, Israel, on 28–30 April 2015 to look at achievements, gaps and challenges and set future priorities.

“Curbing the health effects of air pollution pays dividends. The evidence we have provides decision-makers across the whole of government with a compelling reason to act. If different sectors come together on this, we not only save more lives but also achieve results that are worth astounding amounts of money,” says Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe. “Cross-sectoral work is the backbone of the environment and health process, which was initiated 26 years ago, and it is even more relevant today in the discussions taking place at this meeting in Haifa.”

A ground-breaking report: economic cost of the health impact of air pollution in Europe

Economic cost of the health impact of air pollution in Europe is the first assessment of the economic burden of deaths and diseases resulting from outdoor and indoor air pollution in the 53 countries of the Region.

The economic cost of deaths alone accounts for over US$ 1.4 trillion. Adding another 10% to this, as the cost of diseases from air pollution, results in a total of almost US$ 1.6 trillion. In no less than 10 of the 53 countries of the Region, this cost is at or above 20% of national GDP (see Annex for data by country). The study uses the methodology applied in a 2014 report by OECD and makes the calculations based on the most recent economic estimates of the health impacts of air pollution.

The economic value of deaths and diseases due to air pollution – US$ 1 600 000 000 000 – corresponds to the amount societies are willing to pay to avoid these deaths and diseases with necessary interventions. In these calculations, a value is attached to each death and disease, independent of the age of the person and which varies according to the national economic context.

Air pollution: the single largest environmental health risk

Over 90% of citizens in the Region are exposed to annual levels of outdoor fine particulate matter that are above WHO’s air quality guidelines. This accounted for 482 000 premature deaths in 2012 from heart and respiratory diseases, blood vessel conditions and strokes, and lung cancer. In the same year, indoor air pollution resulted in an additional 117 200 premature deaths, five times more in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries.

“Reducing air pollution has become a top political priority. Air quality will be a key theme at the next Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference in Georgia in 2016”, says Mr Christian Friis Bach, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). “Fifty-one countries are today finding joint solutions in the framework of the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution. This work must be strengthened to reduce air pollution even further and extended to more countries and to other regions.”

“About 2500 people are estimated to die in Israel annually as a result of exposure to air pollutants. The main source of air pollution is transportation, mainly in major city centres,” says Mr Ofir Akunis, Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Member of Knesset (Parliament) for Israel. “Since 2011, the Ministry of Environmental Protection’s Clean Air Law regulates pollutants from major sources such as transport, industry and energy in accordance with the most stringent standards. The Ministry aims to use all available resources to reduce air pollution, as this means saving the lives of thousands of people, as well as billions to the Israeli economy”.

Improving environment and health in Europe: how far have we gotten?

The cost of the health impacts of air pollution is only one of many studies that will provide evidence on the environmental impacts on health to be released at the Haifa meeting.

Another new report, Improving environment and health in Europe: how far have we gotten? jointly published by WHO and UNECE, informs that one in four Europeans still falls sick or dies prematurely from environmental pollution. Data from several surveys in priority thematic areas such as water and sanitation, air quality, the day-to-day surroundings of children’s lives, chemicals and asbestos, climate change and health inequalities all show that while progress has been remarkable, it has been uneven (see Fact Sheet on the report).

via WHO/Europe | Media centre – Air pollution costs European economies US$ 1.6 trillion a year in diseases and deaths, new WHO study says.

Posted in Europe, UK | Tagged Air Pollution, Europe, World Heath Organization (WHO) | Leave a comment

ULTRALIGHT™ MASK

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Respro® UK Ltd

Respro® Ultralight™ Mask

The material used for the Ultralight™ mask is a 4-way stretch, air permeable (allows air to pass) technical fabric that allows the face to breathe in hot and humid conditions.

The Ultralight™ comes with black/silver Powa™ Elite valves and a black/silver unbreakable nose clip and carry bag. The Hepa-Type™ sports filter is installed as standard; the perfect 2.5PM filter for urban areas high in diesel particulates or travelling in hot dusty conditions.

For more information or to buy a Respro® Ultralight™ mask, visit our website respro.com.

Posted in Respro® Masks | Tagged Respro® Products | Leave a comment

Vote for Respro®

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Respro® UK Ltd

We need your help…

The dangers of air pollution are everywhere.

By bringing awareness of the dangers of air pollution to all of us, we would like to think that we can change things for the better. We have made a pitch to Richard Branson and we need your vote to win. #pitchtorich
We can’t thank you enough for voting. Together we can make a first step towards reducing air pollution and with it improvements in air quality.

Please vote* for Respro® at

www.virginmediabusiness.co.uk/pitch-to-rich/grow/respro-uk-ltd

*voting closes 5th May 2015

Don’t wait till it’s too late. #VOOM Together we can make a difference.

Posted in Air Quality | Tagged Respro® | Leave a comment

German cities show excessive air pollution levels

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Respro® UK Ltd

In many cities, air pollution from fine dust particles and nitrogen dioxide exceeds the maximum threshold levels, according to a new report from the Environment Ministry. EurActiv Germany reports.

Residents of Stuttgart are currently exposed to the highest pollution levels in the Federal Republic, a report published by the German Environment Ministry showed.

The study was conducted in response to an inquiry from the Green Party faction regarding certain regions that are known to exhibit high levels of pollution.

Air pollutants are harmful to health and can be fatal in the long-term. To reduce these risks, Germany has set threshold values for certain substances. But these levels are being exceeded more and more frequently in many parts of the country.

According to the research, Stuttgart often had an annual nitrogen dioxide level that was more than double the acceptable threshold value. Cities with pollution levels just below Stuttgart’s were Munich, Reutlingen, Düren, Limburg and Freiburg.

Fine dust particles pose another serious problem. Here, the maximum is 40 µg up to a particle size of ten micrometres per cubic metre of air. Stuttgart exceeded this limit on 91 days in 2013. After Stuttgart, Reutlingen follows in second place, followed by Markgröningen, Tübingen, Gelsenkirchen, Hagen and Leipzig.

Fine dust remains a significant threat

Only 35 violations of the fine dust threshold are permitted per year. Particles in fine dust are suspected to contribute to diseases like asthma, cancer and cardiovascular illness.

Not long ago, researchers at the Institute for Diabetes Research at the Helmholtz Centre in Munich were even able to provide evidence that air pollutants can accelerate the development of type 1 diabetes in children.

Residents in Fichtelberg bei Oberwiesenthal are exposed to the highest ozone pollution. There, the threshold was exceeded on 46 days in 2013.

“The environmental and health burden is devastating in many places,” said Bundestag MP Peter Meiwald. Apparently the federal government’s regulations are failing on many points, he argued.

Meanwhile, most authorities and institutes consider it unlikely that the problem can be solved in the near future. The Umweltbundesamt (Federal Environment Agency) recently expressed doubt “over whether the EU threshold value for even smaller particles PM2.5 in urban residential areas, to take effect in 2020, can even be complied with”.

Jürgen Resch, CEO of Deutsche Umwelthilfe (German Environmental Relief) criticised the German government for acting too fast in its attempt to control fine dust and nitrogen dioxide pollution.

“Other countries model how it can be done,” Resch indicated. In Switzerland, all construction vehicles and locomotives are required to be equipped with particle filters, he pointed out. Germany does not have a regulation of that kind, the politician criticised.

The politician also said cities like Madrid or Stockholm also have much higher standards for buses, for example.

“It is shocking, at how many recording points the threshold values are being exceeded,” said Green Party politician Bärbel Höhn. Almost every state of Germany has critical regions, she indicated.

EU law requires states to reduce emissions

At the end of last year, the European Commission cautioned Germany over excessive air pollution due to fine dust – particularly in Stuttgart and Leipzig – and threatened to take legal measures against the country if the German government did not act.

EU law requires member states to contain their emissions. But which individual measures the member state chooses to take, is up to national governments.

Still, if Germany does not comply with threshold values soon, the Commission could be entitled to initiate an infringement procedure before the European Court of Justice.

via German cities show excessive air pollution levels | EurActiv.