This Eco Action column is brought by Bromsgrove Climate Action.
A total of 99 per cent of us in the UK are living in polluted air.
This air pollution is usually invisible to us but it is serious enough so that long term exposure is a major factor in about one in 20 deaths.
It causes increased risk of asthma, cancers, heart disease, strokes, dementia and type 2 diabetes.
Older people and those with existing health conditions are most at risk, also young children as the development of their organs can become stunted.
Even though we spend 90 per cent of our time there, the indoor environment is an artificial place for humans. Pollutants build up to levels that harm us and our children.
One in 11 children in UK have asthma and the rates of people dying from asthma attacks in England and Wales has increased by more than a third in ten years.
So what causes all this air pollution? Air pollution is a complex mix of particulate matter – small particles which get into the lungs and sometimes the blood stream, along with noxious gases.
These come from several sources, most commonly from vehicle emissions, diesel engines and including tyre and brake wear, industrial processes like burning waste and agricultural activity such as spreading fertiliser and animal waste slurry.
Ammonia is a chemical that comes predominantly from agriculture and travels a long distance.
When it mixes with other pollutants, it forms poisonous secondary particulate matter that can be more damaging than the sources.
Proximity to the pollution source is also important as larger particles remain local and many others stick to nearby objects. So people who live next to busy roads like M5, A38 and Worcester Road in Bromsgrove and nearby schools are most exposed. Try to avoid them and find an alternative route.
Many seem totally unaware of the largest source of small particle (PM2.5) pollution in the UK. Only eight per cent of homes burn wood, but this accounts for around 40 per cent of the total PM2.5 emissions – over three times the level generated by traffic. This is a growing issue in the UK.
Although wood burning ‘feels’ environmentally friendly and eco stoves produce a quarter of the emissions of an open fire – they are still belching the same output as 18 newer diesel cars or six modern heavy goods lorries. We in the UK need to get serious about replacing wood burners with heat pumps and requiring government subsidy to help this transition.
How are we doing? Not well – HALF of neighbourhoods in Bromsgrove are exposed to dangerously high air pollution, a new analysis by Friends of the Earth has found.
Visit addresspollution.org and enter your postcode to get an indication of air pollution levels in your area.
Drivers beware! Your highest exposure to air pollution is when you are inside that enclosed metal box driving on a busy road.
It’s likely to be several times background outdoor amounts!
