MPs to investigate London’s ‘invisible killer’ – the air we all breathe

Posted on April 15, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

MPs are to launch a new inquiry into air quality in London amid warnings that thousands of people are dying prematurely due to “invisible killer” pollution, The Standard reveals today.

Just days after smog and sand whipped up from the Sahara hit the capital, parliamentarians condemned “painfully slow” progress in recent years in tackling pollution black spots.

The Commons Environmental Audit Committee is to probe why City Hall and the Government have not injected more effort into improving air quality since 2010 when the MPs published an earlier report on pollution.

“Thousands of Londoners are having their lives shortened every year by diesel fumes and tiny particles of tyre and soot in the air. Look out across the capital on a sunny day and you can see the smog hazily smothering the city,” said committee chairwoman Joan Walley.

“The Environmental Audit Committee warned four years ago that urgent action was needed to tackle this invisible killer haunting our streets. London was breaching EU safety limits on air pollution back then and it is still breaching them now.

“We want to know why progress on tackling this problem has been so painfully slow.”

Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster, were named last week as having the most man-made polluted air in the UK, according to a report by Public Health England.

It highlighted that London has by far the worst air pollution problem in the country, largely due to traffic levels, with the wider South East also suffering badly.

In London, 3,389 deaths were estimated to be linked to air pollution and 41,404 “life years” lost in 2010, while in the South East, 4,034 people died and 41,728 years were lost, according to the study.

Around one in 12 deaths in Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster, of people aged over 25 were caused in part by long-term exposure to particle air pollution, the research found.

While air quality had improved in recent decades, due significantly to cleaner vehicles and tougher environmental laws, thousands of Londoners are still having their lives shortened by months, if not years, say scientists.

Boris Johnson’s Air Quality Strategy has focused on levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) as these are often linked with negative health impacts.

A spokeswoman for the Mayor of London said: “The Mayor takes London’s air quality extremely seriously and is driving the most ambitious and comprehensive package of pollution tackling measures in the world.

“His policies have halved the number of Londoners living in areas above nitrogen dioxide (NO2) limits, brought NOx emissions down by 20 per cent and PM10 down by 15 per cent.”

She added that in the last four years cleaner buses had been introduced on London’s roads, as well as age limits for taxis, a £20 million fund set up to tackle air pollution hotspots, with nearly £1 billion to improve cycling infrastructure.

“Most significantly, he has announced an Ultra Low Emission Zone in central London from 2020. This will be a world first game changer for London’s air quality – no city in the world is doing more,” she said.

The Environmental Audit Committee called in 2010 for a “significant shift” in transport policy and warned insufficient priority was being given to cutting pollution blamed for exacerbating public health problems including asthma, and other breathing and heart conditions.

At the time, Professor Frank Kelly, an environmental health expert from King’s College, London, estimated that 3,000 to 5,000 people in the capital were dying early each year due to pollution.

In the worst cases, individuals were having their lives cut short by up to ten years, he warned.

Concerns have also been raised about the possible health impacts on hundreds of thousands of pupils at schools in London close to busy roads.

Green campaigners stressed that there are 1,148 schools in London within 150 metres of roads carrying 10,000 or more vehicles per day.

Scientists say living near roads with such traffic levels could significantly increase the risk of children suffering from asthma and of people developing breathing and heart problems later in life.

London is not alone in suffering from smog problems, with Chinese cities such as Beijing worse affected and Paris limiting car use last month with only motorists with odd-numbered number plates allowed to drive one day and even-numbered the following day.

A Government spokeswoman said: “We have committed billions to increase uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles, sustainable travel and green transport initiatives, all of which will help improve air quality.”

via MPs to investigate London’s ‘invisible killer’ – the air we all breathe – London – News – London Evening Standard.

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Shanghai base for delta air pollution alert center

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

Shanghai residents will soon receive more accurate air quality reports with the launch of a new calculating system.

Air Quality Index (AQI) calculations will be partly based on an hourly figure for PM2.5 — tiny particles especially harmful as they can get deep into the respiratory system — instead of a 24-hour average PM2.5 figure used at present.

Already approved by central government, the new system will be introduced very soon, Zhang Quan, director of Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau, said yesterday.

Currently, the AQI, which is reported hourly, is calculated based on levels of six pollutants: PM2.5, PM10, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone and carbon monoxide.

While readings for four of these are presently updated hourly, PM2.5 and PM10 figures are an average for the previous 24 hours, in line with national standards.

Zhang also said Shanghai will need approval from central government if it intends to introduce an Air Quality Health Index (AQHI), already in use in Hong Kong.

AQHI provides health advice and alerts for groups particularly sensitive to air pollution — such as the very young, the elderly and those with respiratory problems — depending on levels of pollutants.

“Shanghai’s AQI system gives advice to people to reduce short-term exposure to air pollution through adjusting activities but AQHI is more detailed,” Zhang said.

In another air pollution initiative, a joint air quality alert center covering Shanghai and neighboring provinces Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui is to be located in the city.

Joint alerts are intended to ensure that the Yangtze River Delta can take quick, coordinated action to tackle air pollution.

“The meteorological and environment departments of Shanghai and the three provinces are working together closely on the air pollution joint alert system,” said Zhang.

A coordinated effort to fight pollution across the Yangtze River Delta was launched in January, and also includes a unified standard for energy conservation and emission cuts to be achieved.

“Our main concerns include the use of resources, coal consumption restrictions, straw burning and emissions from vehicles and ships,” said Zhang.

He said in Shanghai 500 to 600 polluting industrial enterprises are made to clean up their act or closed each year, and some neighbors are having to play catch up to achieve uniform standards.

“Jiangsu Province might have to take action on more than 1,000 polluting enterprises every year to catch up with the pace of the joint effort in the Yangtze River Delta region,” said Zhang. “These are historical problems from earlier developments.”

Meanwhile, the city is to continue increasing punishments for polluting air, water and soil through illegal discharges and emissions.

Shanghai has already adjusted its penalty system, levying fines on a daily basis to encourage immediate improvements.

Fines totaling 70 million yuan (US$11.27 million) were collected by the environment bureau in 2013 — up 50 percent on 2012.

Now the bureau is also turning its attention to individuals in companies responsible for pollution.

“In future, punishments will also be handed out to individuals, with them receiving fines and shouldering legal responsibilities,” said Zhang.

He also said more water quality detection stations will be built at the borders of the city to neighboring provinces.

The bureau director added that the city government has approved building another reservoir, similar to the Qingcaosha Reservoir in the mouth of Yangtze River.

Currently, most of Shanghai’s tap water comes from Qingcaosha Reservoir and the Huangpu River. Monitoring water quality is easier in closed reservoirs.

via Shanghai base for delta air pollution alert center – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

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Danger in the air

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

Early April’s mixture of air pollution and Saharan dust attracted considerable media attention but air pollution in mid-March was far worse. This prompted emergency measures in Paris and south Belgium including free public transport and car bans. No such actions were taken in the UK despite almost identical pollution concentrations.

Emergency measures were triggered by pollution accumulating in air that was slowly circulating over north-west Europe. Paris had air pollution above EU limits for over a week. Winds nudged the polluted air westwards to include most of England and south Wales around 9/10 March and then again between the 12th and 14th, when air pollution reached the top value of 10 in the UK’s air quality index.

Following the 1952 London smog we used to believe that the public health impacts from air pollution mainly occurred when pollution was very high. Today we know that the long-term exposure to the air pollution that we experience in our daily urban lives has a far greater effect on public health than short episodes. Reducing air pollution every day therefore would have a bigger health impact. For this reason over 40 German cities have abandoned emergency measures in favour of low emissions zones that ban the most polluting vehicles all the time – similar to the scheme introduced in London in 2008. The UK policies have also focused on reducing air pollution every day, but March’s pollution shows that these measures are insufficient to protect against episodes. Even with current policies, long-term air pollution exposure adds the equivalent of 29,000 deaths per year to the UK’s accumulating toll.

via Pollutionwatch: Danger in the air | Environment | The Guardian.

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The World must end ‘dirty’ fuel use – UN

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

A long-awaited UN report on how to curb climate change says the world must rapidly move away from carbon-intensive fuels.

There must be a “massive shift” to renewable energy, says the study released in Berlin.

It has been finalised after a week of negotiations between scientists and government officials.

Natural gas is seen as a key bridge to move energy production away from oil and coal.

But there have been battles between participants over who will pay for this energy transition.

The report is the work of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was set up to provide a clear scientific view on climate change and its impacts.

The Summary for Policymakers on mitigation paints a picture of a world with carbon emissions rising rapidly.

“The high speed mitigation train needs to leave the station very soon, and all of global society will have to get on board,” the IPCC’s chair Rajendra Pachauri told journalists in Berlin at the launch of the report.

Dr Youba Sokono, a co-chair of the IPCC’s working group 3, which drew up the report, said science has spoken.

He added that policy makers were “the navigators, they have to make decisions, scientists are the map makers”.

The UK’s Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said global warming needed to be tackled using “all technologies”. He told BBC News: “We can do this, we have to because it’s so challenging and threatening to our economies and societies, our health, our food security. The report today shows we can do it if we have the political will.”

He added that the UK government was a leader on the use of renewable energy sources, saying: “We’ve, for example, doubled the amount of renewable electricity in the last few years. We’re likely to do better than our targets in increasing renewable electricity. But we’ve got to do more.”

About half of all the carbon that humans have pumped into the atmosphere since 1750 has been emitted in the last 40 years.

Rates have been rising fast since 2000, despite the global economic crash.

Analysis

Adam Fleming BBC News Political Correspondent

The Energy Secretary Ed Davey reckons the government doesn’t get the credit it deserves for delivering an ambitious green agenda: Investing in renewables, co-operating internationally to cut carbon and building lots of wind farms.

The problem is that there are a few things that a sizeable chunk of Tory backbenchers simply cannot stomach, namely: Subsidies, Europe and – err – building lots of wind farms.

Maybe that’s why the Chancellor has come up with a formula which he hopes will satisfy both sides – that Britain can go green but it has to be done as cheaply as possible.

And what about David Cameron? The PM is famously alleged to have said he wanted to “cut the green crap” but that has always been strenuously denied by Downing Street, and he made a passionate plea to tackle climate change during a session of Prime Minister’s Questions earlier this year.

The report points to an increased use of coal in the decade from the turn of the millennium, “reversing the longstanding trend of decarbonisation of the world’s energy supply”.

Driven by a global increase in population and economic activity, global surface temperature increases will be between 3.7C and 4.8C in 2100 if no new action is taken.

This is way above the 2 degree level, regarded as the point beyond which dangerous impacts of climate change will be felt.

However, the scientists involved in the report say this situation can be turned around.

“It needs a big change in the energy sector, that is undoubtedly true,” said Prof Jim Skea, vice-chair of working group 3.

“One of the biggest areas that’s important is getting the carbon out of electricity, so renewable energy, nuclear, fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage, that’s all part of the menu if we are going to make the transition to stay under the 2 degree target.”

It is not a simple task. To be sure of staying below 2 degrees, the amount of carbon in the air needs to be around 450 parts per million by 2100. To get there, emissions in 2050 need to be 40-70% lower than they were in 2010.

The IPCC says that renewables are a critical part of that pathway.

Since the last report in 2007, the scientists say that renewable energy has come on in leaps and bounds.

In 2012, renewables accounted for just over half of the new electricity generation added around the world.

The scientists stress that renewables are becoming economically competitive with fossil fuels and also offer a range of other benefits, including clean air and energy security.

“It certainly is the end for carbon intensive fuels that’s for sure,” said Jennifer Morgan from the World Resources Institute, who was a review editor on one of the chapters of the IPCC report.

“There needs to be a massive shift away from fossil fuels and investment needs to shift to going 100% clean as fast as possible.”

Prof Ottmar Edenhofer, co-chair of working group 3, said: “Mitigation does not mean the world has to sacrifice economic growth.”

He explained that the report added “modest hope”, but added: “Climate policy is not a free lunch.”

One of the surprising endorsements in the report is natural gas.

“Emissions from energy supply can be reduced significantly by replacing current world average coal-fired power plants with modern, highly efficient natural gas combined-cycle power plants,” says the summary.

The report describes natural gas as a “bridge” technology with deployment increasing before peaking and falling below current levels by 2050.

However many of the scenarios examined by the panel would still involve an “overshoot” of the target range.

To cope with this the world may need to remove carbon from the atmosphere. Combining carbon capture and storage with bioenergy is seen as one potential solution, but the report is lukewarm on these ideas, saying the “methods are uncertain” and are “associated with risks”.

Timing is everything, say the scientists.

“Delaying mitigation efforts beyond those in place today through 2030 is estimated to substantially increase the difficulty of the transition to low longer-term emissions,” says the summary.

“If we delay we are faced with hard choices,” said Prof Skea.

“Do we give up on the 2 degrees target or do we employ these techniques that suck CO2 out of the atmosphere – if we proceed promptly and we get a deal in Paris next year, then we need to rely less on these ideas.”

The report points out that there needs to be huge shifts in investment if the worst impacts of rising temperatures are to be avoided. Investment in renewables and other low carbon sources needs to at least treble by the middle of the century, while money flowing into fossil fuels has to diminish.

But differences have emerged over who should make the cuts in emissions and who should pay for the switch to low carbon energy sources. Developed and developing countries have clashed here in Berlin, echoing divisions found in the UN negotiations.

“It is true that some of the dynamics that we see in the UNFCCC negotiations were visible here as well,” said Kaisa Kosenen from Greenpeace.

“It is an indication that the key question of equity – who should do what and who should pay for the damages already caused.”

Other participants believed that this new report could actually help push the UN process forward.

“I hope that this information from the IPCC can kind of do a bit of a tectonic shift into a co-operating mode rather than a finger pointing mode between countries,” said Jennifer Morgan.

“There’s too much at stake.”

via BBC News – World must end ‘dirty’ fuel use – UN.

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Air pollution in Scotland ’caused 2,000 deaths’

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

Air pollution may have been responsible for more than 2,000 deaths in Scotland in a single year, according to health professionals.

Health Protection Scotland (HPS) said the highest number of deaths attributable to pollution in 2010 were in Glasgow (306) and Edinburgh (205).

But there were just six in each of Orkney and Shetland.

The Scottish death rate was lower than in England and Wales, but marginally higher than Northern Ireland.

The HPS briefing paper outlined the estimated number of deaths which could be attributed to long-term exposure to particulate material pollution (PM), and the levels of PM, in each of Scotland’s 32 local authority areas.

Sources of PM in the atmosphere can be either natural, such as sea salt and agricultural dust, or man-made such as motor vehicle and industrial emissions.

Lung conditions

The report said high levels of air pollution can increase the risk to people with respiratory conditions, for example asthma, bronchitis and emphysema, and also contribute to the premature deaths of people suffering from heart and lung conditions, particularly the elderly.

The statistics showed an estimated 2,094 deaths of people over the age of 25 in Scotland could be attributed to PM in 2010. This figure represented 3.9% of the total number of deaths of people over 25.

Pollution was directly attributable to a total of 28,969 deaths – 5.3% of all deaths – across the UK, the report said,

The percentage of deaths caused by pollution in England was 5.6%, with Wales at 4.3% and Northern Ireland 3.8%.

The report also said the mean level of PM was 6.8 in Scotland, 9.9 in England, 7.5 in Wales and 6.6 in Northern Ireland.

PM levels were higher in urban areas, with Edinburgh worst at 8.6, followed by Glasgow at 8.3 and Falkirk and North Lanarkshire a 7.5.

The Western Isles had the lowest PM levels at 4.2, with Highland at 4.3, Moray and Orkney at 4.7 and Shetland at 4.8.

via BBC News – Air pollution in Scotland ’caused 2,000 deaths’.

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Kensington and Chelsea is borough with most polluted air in UK

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

Kensington and Chelsea has the most polluted air in the United Kingdom, with more than one in 12 of all deaths in the London borough attributable to tiny particles of soot largely emitted by diesel engines. The only other borough with similar pollution levels is nearby Westminster.

The statistics, collated by locality for the first time by Public Health England – an agency of the Department of Health – suggest that London and south-east England have by far the worst air in Britain, largely due to traffic levels. In London, 3,389 people died of air pollution and 41,404 “life years” were lost in 2010, while in south-east England, 4,034 people died and 41,728 years were lost.

The study confirms that the purest air in Britain is to be found in Scotland and places where there are few cars and the prevailing wind blows off the Atlantic. Only eight deaths in the Outer Hebrides, six in the Orkneys and six in the Shetland Islands were attributable to air pollution. Moyle was the cleanest borough in Northern Ireland and Gwynedd in Wales. Cumbria, Northumberland and Cornwall were the regions that had the lowest percentage of deaths from air pollution in England.

In total, said the study, based on the work of the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants, estimated that long-term exposure to air pollution causes 28,869 deaths a year and 306,835 life years to be lost. Air pollution is now officially the biggest public health risk after smoking.

The figures were calculated by modelling annual average concentrations of minute man-made particles of less than 2.5 microns in diameter, known as PM2.5, and their impacts on health. These minuscule particles, emitted largely by diesel engines, reduce visibility and cause the air to appear hazy when levels are raised. Because they are so small, they can travel deep into the lungs and cross into the bloodstream, causing heart and lung disease, cancer, and aggravating asthma.

The estimates are made only for long-term exposure to particulate air pollution rather than short-term exposure to high pollution episodes such as those experienced last week across southern Britain, when dust from the Sahara mixed with local air pollution. Because this is the first time that the figures have been calculated on a borough-by-borough basis, it is not possible to compare them with other years.

Britain, with a few exceptions in London, is within the EU legal limit for particulate pollution but is being taken to court by the European commission for consistently missing targets for another air pollutant, NO2. This mixes with particles and other chemicals in the air to further aggravate health risks. Diesel fumes are known to be more damaging to health than those from petrol engines.

A 2011 study showed that diesel-related health problems cost the NHS more than 10 times as much as comparable problems caused by petrol fumes. Last year the UN’s World Health Organisation declared that diesel exhaust caused cancer and was comparable in its effects to secondary cigarette smoking.

“Current levels of particulate air pollution in the UK have a significant impact on the life expectancy of the population. In the UK, a 15% reduction is required by 2020,” said the report.

Environment groups called on government to tackle the cause of air pollution deaths. “It’s outrageous that tens of thousands of people die because of polluted air. Ending this national disgrace should be a top priority for politicians. Ministers and local authorities must develop an urgent action plan to introduce cleaner vehicles and encourage the use of alternative forms of transport – people won’t be able to breathe easily until they do,” said a spokeswoman for Friends of the Earth.

via Kensington and Chelsea is borough with most polluted air in UK | Environment | theguardian.com.

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Air pollution linked to one in 12 deaths in London – and it takes six months off the average Briton’s life expectancy

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

Pollution shortens the average Briton’s life expectancy by six months, with 1 in 12 deaths in some areas of the country partly attributable to poor quality air, health officials have said.

In the most comprehensive warning yet over the health burden of pollutants in the air we breathe, Public Health England (PHE) has calculated the impact on the local population in every UK local authority area.

The report found that pollutants contribute to 29,000 deaths in the UK a year, and the average British citizen has their life expectancy shortened by six months because of long-term exposure to pollutants caused by car exhausts, industry and domestic energy use.

While rural areas fare well, city-dwellers are badly affected and in some parts of London as many as one in 12 deaths can be partly attributed to the effects of particle air pollution.

Their warning comes a week after widespread smog sparked health warnings and led to spikes in ambulance calls for respiratory conditions. However, the new figures refer to long-term exposure rather than any extreme events such as last week’s unusually high pollution levels.

They are based on scientific models of the average concentration of air pollution in a given area, compared to the number of deaths in a single year.

Air pollution is never the single cause of death, rather it is a factor which can exacerbate underlying health problems, including respiratory illnesses like asthma or COPD, as well as cardiovascular conditions.

The proportion of deaths in which air pollution played a part varied widely across the UK, from only 2.5 per cent in rural areas of Scotland and Northern Ireland, between three and five per cent in Wales, but were as high as eight per cent in some London boroughs. Residents of the north London borough of Barnet and Bromley in the south-east had the highest likelihood of dying from a condition exacerbated by air pollution, with estimates suggesting that more than 160 deaths per year could be attributed to air pollution in each of the boroughs.

Dr Sotiris Vardoulakis, PHE’s head of air pollution and climate change said that the advice meant that people living in high pollution areas should be aware of their heightened risk of respiratory and cardiovascular disease.

“Mortality related to air pollution is substantial – there is a significant burden on public health, which can be compared to burdens like tobacco smoking, or alcohol use,” he told The Independent.

“People who are suffering from asthma are sensitive, they might see an exacerbation of their condition, but pollution affects the whole population,” he added. “It might be a contributory factor in many deaths – most of them due to cardiovascular and respiratory conditions. It’s not like carbon monoxide poisoning or road accidents, it’s not the sole factor causing a death – it’s a factor that adds to other underlying problems, exacerbates conditions and accelerates the course of the disease.”

via Air pollution linked to one in 12 deaths in London – and it takes six months off the average Briton’s life expectancy – Health News – Health & Families – The Independent.

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Invisible Killer Lurks in Iran’s Kurdish Cities

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

An invisible killer is claiming lives in Iranian Kurdistan, where the cities of Sanandaj and Kermanshah figure in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) top 10 worst cities in the world for air pollution.

Sanandaj (Sina) and Kermanshah, where traffic jams and car fumes are a daily nuisance, had to issue warnings and even close schools throughout the winter to protect children’s health. The pollution has created grave health problems, for a population living in some of Iran’s poorest and most deprived regions.

Unlike other polluted cities of the world, where the air is dirtied by factories and industries, Sanandaj and Kermanshah do not have major factories or coal mines, which are seen to be typical sources of air pollution.

Almost 270 Iranians reportedly die each day from pollution-related illnesses.

After years of evading the main cause of air pollution, Iranian authorities finally officially admitted what many Iranians had suspected all along: Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh blamed sub-standard gasoline as the root of the problem.

But earlier this year authorities denied the allegation, as air pollution has become a sensitive political issue in Iran.

In 2010, after the United States tightened sanctions on Iran in response to its suspected nuclear weapons program, former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proudly announced the launch of a “resistance economy,” declaring that Iran was refining its own gasoline.

But authorities finally confessed that the supplies were in fact low-grade gasoline, which experts blame for some 88 percent of the air pollution.

The WHO 2013 Index also lists the Iranian cities of Ahvaz and Yasouj among its top 10 most polluted. The air pollution in the Iranian cities is estimated to be three times worse than Beijing, which is often touted for its heavy smog.

Even though they live in some of the world’s most polluted cities, most Kurds are unaware of the fact, and automatically think of the capital, Tehran, when the subject of air pollution is raised.

“I have never heard of pollution problems in Sanandaj,” says Roya, who has lived in the city for 44 years.

via Invisible Killer Lurks in Iran’s Kurdish Cities.

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