Unbeknownst to most people, air pollution is one of the major public health risks globally. Even in countries within Europe, where air quality is improved significantly. It is a day-to-day problem in many urban centers. And this is something that people only really realize when they see bulletins on the news, and there's a major smog at the South going on. But we have to get across the message that this happens every day, day in, day out.
This isn't a problem which is confined to Western countries. In fact, it's a problem that Western countries have been struggling with for many many years, but across the world. Now other cities as they develop and become megacities have got bigger and bigger problems with air quality. Polluted air problem is now visible and people can see this is a big problem.
Air Pollution In London
Thinking back to London in the 1950s, we could see air pollution then and we've improved things an awful lot since then. There's a lot convert that can be learned in London, elsewhere in the world. Collaborative research between countries in the in Europe in the UK for example, and also in Asia, is very important for a number of reasons.
Every city and country has its own unique characteristics. We have to understand these to be able to conduct effective research. But also, London has a lot to give to the rest of the world in terms of experience.
London Air Pollution History Make Benefits
We've been struggling with air pollution problems for many many years. And we can give this experience, the benefit of this experience to other countries like Delhi, Hong Kong, Beijing, who are now just coming to terms that they need to do something about this air pollution issue.
The levels of air pollution that we breathe every day depends on where we are and what we're doing, but also what the weather's like. So within a city, most of the pollution comes from cars. So the closer you are to roads, the higher levels of pollution you'll be breathing. But then there are industrial sources and even farming has sources of air pollution.
Weather Impact on Air Pollution
The weather also has a very big impact on how the pollution disperses once it's been emitted from those sources. And this is why some cities have more problems than others. Not necessarily how much pollution they create, but that how that pollution is blown away into the surrounding countryside.
Health Effects of Air Pollution on Humans
Getting across the risks of air pollution can be quite challenging because it's something that's invisible. Both in terms of the actual risk itself, but also in the harm. It's not like being run over by a car. So we need to look very carefully at what health impacts are caused by air pollution and what is caused by other factors such as smoking or nutrition. But we do know with increasing evidence and certainty that air pollution affects your cardiovascular system and a heart attack.
Polluted air affects your respiratory system and there are also thoughts that it may affect cognitive function and how we think and how we age. And all of these effects accumulative over a lifetime. It's very important when you're looking at the health impacts of air pollution to try and understand what is actually driving those health effects.
Outdoor Air Quality Monitoring System
Today we have some a network of monitors throughout London which on a day to day basis record air pollution levels of a wide variety of sorts. The monitors let us know whether air pollution is getting better or worse. And whether particularly interventions to improve a mission, such as cleaner buses, or low emission zones are having an impact.
But we're really interested in the personal health of people. And new technology these days allows us to give individuals air pollution monitors to see what they're actually breathing and how this affects their health on a day-to-day basis.
We're relatively lucky in London that we have some monitoring sites which have a very complex set of equipment such as Melbourne Road. This allows us to really understand in detail what's going on in the atmosphere.
This is important to monitor over a long period of time because of the impacts of the weather and other ways that we try and improve air quality. And we have different types of equipment which tell us all about the composition of pollution in the atmosphere. Some of these are gases, some of these are particles of different size and different compositions. And this allows us to separate out all the different kinds of pollution in the city.
We've just started some very exciting research where for the first time we can give members of the public who suffer from respiratory disease. Their own personal pollution monitor for a very long period of time up to six months. When we record every minute their whole environment and the aim here is to understand what it is that they're doing whether they're cooking, whether they're out traveling on a bus or in a car, and relate those activities to their respiratory health. And then we can provide them with advice and everyone else with advice on how to reduce their risk.
The underlying aim of all of our research is to improve public health and like all other public health risks we need to engage with people and change behavior in some way. Or at least make policies more acceptable to them when politicians propose them.
Polluted Air Monitoring Device As a Warner
So, getting across this kind of information about air quality on a day-to-day and a year-to-year basis, in a way that the public can understand is extremely important. And a lot of our monitors and our activities, try and achieve this and even give warning to people when we think there's going to be a major pollution episode. So they can prepare for that.
The other aspect of it is actually providing strong robust evidence of the health impacts of air pollution. On individuals and that may be people with existing to get a disease like heart disease, or respiratory disease, or maybe young people ( other vulnerable people ). And to be able to identify what the cause of air pollution is amongst all of the other things that they do in their everyday lives is what we need this very detailed personal information form.
Much of the research on air pollution around the world focus on outdoor air quality which is extremely important. We've course spent much of our time indoors as well. By giving people a monitor of their own we can see as they move indoors and outdoors and go about their lives. How important, sources endure of air pollution are relative to sources of air pollution outdoor for instance cooking, or stoves, or heating.
But this is especially important in some developing countries where they're still using solid fuel for cooking. And this is a major global health risk and something that really has to be tackled across these countries as more and more people move to cities. And they become more and more densely populated buildings are getting taller and taller, and people are living higher and higher above the ground.
We have research ongoing in Hong Kong which is renowned as a vertical city. Looking at how pollution levels disperse as you move upwards. People live well above the street in those areas and we want to understand how pollution enters their homes and affects their health, even though they're way up in the sky.
One of the challenges of air pollution is a public health risk, is that it's not necessarily the people who are creating the pollution. That are the ones that are suffering the harmful effects of it.
Over the last five years or so, the awareness of air pollution issues in the UK has become much higher. there's a much greater public interest in this as a subject. Consequently, the politicians have become more aware of it and now making serious commitment to try and improve air quality.
This is something that needs to be reflected around the world in different countries and it's something that the public needs to demand improved air quality is important to their health.
Conclusion for This Air Pollution Problem
Air pollution in many ways is a complex subject area, but the basics of it are quite simple. If you're aware of the sources of pollution in your neighborhood then you know how to avoid them. For example traffic on your commute to work, you can avoid those busiest roads if you're cycling or walk. And walk down quieter, safer and more pleasant routes.
There are now tools increasingly coming out around the world where people can look and see a forecast of air quality. So they can take action, an action such as carrying their inhaler if they have asthma or other respiratory problems.
However, avoiding air pollution isn't going to solve the problem. And there are actions that we can also take. Choices we could make to improve air quality.
For example what car you decide to purchase, what fuel type it is whether, it's electric diesel or petrol. What mode of transport we take, active travel such as walking and cycling not only means that you're producing less pollution, and means you're exposed to less pollution, also means your fitness improves. So there's three benefits from one simple step.
