Air Pollution: Health Hazards

Ambient and indoor air pollution are harmful to health in the United Kingdom. Long-term exposure to air pollution, over years or lifetimes, reduces life expectancy, mainly due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, dementia and lung cancer. Short-term exposure, over hours or days, to elevated levels of air pollution can also cause a range of health impacts, including effects on lung function, exacerbation of asthma, increases in respiratory and cardiovascular hospital admissions, and mortality. Some groups may be more affected by air pollution exposure due to their location or socioeconomic background, but the types of health impacts from exposure to poor air quality in indoor and ambient settings remains similar. A combination of high ambient air pollution levels and substandard housing in income-deprived areas, pre-existing health issues, and lifestyle factors contribute to a disproportionate burden of air-pollution-related ill health among more deprived groups.