Air Pollution: Public Health

Poor air quality is one of the largest environmental risks to public health in the United Kingdom. Epidemiological evidence shows that both long-term, over years or lifetimes, and short-term, over hours or days, exposure to air pollution is harmful, linking them to a wide range of health outcomes. Long-term exposure reduces life expectancy, primarily through cardiovascular or respiratory disease, lung cancer, and dementia, whilst short-term exposure can trigger acute health effects such as asthma exacerbations, reduced lung function, and increased hospital admissions and mortality. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) estimates the mortality burden of long-term exposure to the air pollution mixture in the UK in 2019 was an annual effect equivalent to 29,000 to 43,000 deaths for adults aged 30 years old and over. It is also projected that there will be over 1.3 million new disease cases linked to particulate matter and over 1.1 million linked to nitrogen dioxide by 2035 in England.

The UKHSA has established a Cleaner Air Programme which aims to reduce people’s exposure to air pollution and achieve better outcomes for all, particularly for the most vulnerable groups such as those with pre-existing respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, older people, pregnant women, and children. The UKHSA also produces estimates of the fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution in local authorities and regions annually, which are published as an indicator within the Public Health Outcomes Framework for England.