London at the Top

There are always some competitions that you would prefer not to win. A Delft University study, based on data obtained in 2018, looked at the effects of vehicle-generated air pollution on the health costs to the populations of more than 430 cities in the EU, UK, Norway and Switzerland (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/21/london-the-worst-city-in-europe-for-health-costs-from-air-pollution). Londoners turned out to pay the most for air pollution and Manchester came in at number 15. This is, in spite of people knowing for decades, that such air pollution has profound negative effects on respiratory and cardiac health in people (and their associated animals). The effects are even more striking in children, whose schools are commonly sited near busy roads. There is even evidence that babies in the womb can receive particulates via the placenta. We have also recently seen that vehicular air pollution intensifies the medical problems associated with a Covid-19 infection. Pollution levels have frequently exceeded EU legal limits in London, with little being done to correct this situation. It makes you wonder (previous blog post) why the Alliance of British Drivers is being asked to give 'evidence' to the Commons Transport Committee, when they dismiss the health impact of vehicle pollution as 'scaremongering'. If it's 'scaremongering', it's certainly expensive 'scaremongering'!