Listen to So I Can Breathe,
a season exploring air pollution, 6-12 March.
L
ook outside. Perhaps it’s a bright and cold day, and you’re thinking of cycling into town. But you might want to think again. You may be about to put yourself in harm’s way from high levels of compounds at the centre of a major public health issue: air pollution.
Air pollution has long been regarded as a threat that vanished with the smoke-belching factories of yesteryear. And while the dense ‘pea-souper’ smogs of the 1950s may have gone for good, they have been replaced by invisible forms of pollution that build up on bright, still days – especially during the cooler months of the year. Exactly how such pollutants affect our health is the subject of urgent research, but there’s growing concern that they pose a major health threat. Air pollution is back at the top of the UK public health agenda, implicated in the deaths of tens of thousands of people each year.
According to Prof Dame Sally Davies, chief medical officer for England, it’s already clear that the elderly and those with pre-existing heart disease or lung disorders are 2
G E T T Y
:
P H O T O
63
