The Royal College of Physicians released their indepth report on air pollution in the UK on Clean Air Day this year. The report was packed full of facts, statistics and recommendations that must be implemented to improve air quality and help prevent illness in the UK population. Some of the more shocking facts were:
1. Around 30,000 deaths per year in the UK are estimated to be attributed to air pollution.
2. The economic cost of this is £27 billion in the UK due to healthcare costs, productivity losses and reduced quality of life. When wider impacts such as dementia are accounted for, the economic cost may be as high as £50bn.
The report stresses that the growth in homes with wood burners is especially concerning – these alone, the report noted, produced 11% of UK PM 2.5 in 2023 and went on to state that there had only been 1 prosecution and 3 fines for illegal wood burning in Smoke Control Areas in England in the 2 years since legislation was introduced in spite of there having been 10,600 complaints.
The Royal College of Physicians’ report also expressed concern that wood-burning stoves may be allowed as secondary heating for new-build homes in England despite overwhelming evidence showing their significant contribution to air pollution and carbon emissions.
The Scottish Government has sadly already agreed that new build homes can have wood-burning stoves as a secondary heat source, ignoring all medical and environmental evidence that clearly shows how detrimental to public health and the environment woodburning is.
This Clean Air Day, over 75 health professionals, patients and campaigners walked from Great Ormond Street Hospital to Parliament Square to deliver an open letter from Global Action Plan, signed by nearly 500 health sector representatives, to cross-party MPs calling on the UK Government to bring air quality targets in line with World Health Organization guidelines – the global standard for protecting public health.
Asthma + Lung UK also launched a public petition, urging the UK Government to immediately adopt the World Health Organization’s ambitious clean air standards and create a clear plan to reach them. The petition will be delivered to 10 Downing Street in October – you can sign it here.