Every breath we take: the lifelong impact of air pollution

A new report by the Royal College of Physicians confirms earlier research, showing how  damage from air pollution can start before birth and continue to affect us throughout childhood and leave us more frail and with shorter life spans. The report doesn’t only present these facts, but also comes up with solutions beyond asking people to cycle or walk to work. The first point on their list is:

“Put the onus on polluters. Polluters must be required to take responsibility for harming our health. Political leaders at a local, national and EU level must introduce tougher regulations, including reliable emissions testing for cars.”

Environmental law firm ClientEarth are clearly trying to do just that, and won a supreme court case against the government over its failures to adequately tackle air pollution. According to the Guardian, Liz Truss (environmental secretary) has been sent a final warning letter, to which she has only three days left to respond. It will be interesting to see what, if any, her response is.

The image used above is from Kasia Molga’s ‘Human Sensor Project’, which deals with air pollution and is part of Manchester European City of Science, EuroScience Open Forum

You can read more about the study, or read it in its entirety, on the RCP website.

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