London: Fifty-thousand people a year may be dying prematurely because of air pollution, an influential committee of MPs has reported after a six-month investigation.
According to the environment audit committee, minute sooty particles, emitted largely from the burning of diesel and other fuels and inhaled deeply into the lungs, shortens lives by seven to eight months.
In pollution hot spots like areas of central London and other cities, the particles could be cutting vulnerable people's lives short by as much as nine years.
The committee, which took evidence from government ministers as well as medical experts, said it was shocked so little was being done to address the problem, despite the health evidence and threats from Europe to take Britain to court and fine it millions of pounds a year until improvements are made.
In a series of Commons meetings, the committee heard the government had been breaking EU air quality laws for more than a decade and also extracted new figures from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. These showed that the scale and seriousness of the long-term problem had been known for many years but had been repressed.
Long-term air pollution, from the sooty particles known as PM10s, nitrogen dioxide and nitrogen oxides, it was told, makes asthma worse and exacerbates heart disease and respiratory illness.
"Despite these considerable impacts on public health, very little effort is being put into reducing air pollution levels, compared with efforts to tackle smoking, alcohol misuse and obesity. Much more needs to be done to save lives and reduce the enormous burden air pollution is placing on the NHS," said the committee chair, Tim Yeo.
"The large EU fines we face, if we don't get to grips with this problem, should now focus ministers' minds," he said. "Air pollution from road vehicles causes the most damage to health. A dramatic shift in transport policy is required if air quality is to be improved," concluded the report.
"This means removing the most polluting vehicles from the road, cleaning up the vehicles that remain and encouraging smarter choices about transport. Many of the policies needed to reduce transport emissions have the added benefits of tackling climate change by reducing carbon dioxide emissions."
The air pollution problem is particularly acute in London where there has been a political standoff between the mayor, Boris Johnson, and central government.
