A new report by King's College London, and released by fifteen health and environment organisations including the British Lung Foundation, shows the health impacts of air pollution on people living within fifty metres of a major road.
The data from King's College illustrates risks to people in nine cities, including Manchester but not Salford, and concludes that living near a busy road stunts children's lung growth by up to 14%, and increases lung cancer risk by 10%.
It also points out that cutting air pollution by one-fifth would reduce the number of lung cancer cases in Manchester by 5.6%, increase children's lung capacity by 2.6% and reduce the number of children with bronchitic symptoms by 85.
Groups, including ClientEarth and the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change which represents 650,000 health professionals in the NHS, are now calling for all political parties to commit to adopting a legally-binding target to meet World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for particulate matter pollution by 2030 and take steps to immediately reduce illegal air pollution across the UK.
"To date, none of the political parties have explicitly committed to meet the guidelines by 2030" states the groups "The fear is that without a clear deadline and timetable, many more people will die and face debilitating health conditions."
Selina Browne, now living in Stockport, says: "When we were younger, we lived in Salford and my parents moved out of the city centre for us to grow up in a cleaner environment. They both had lung conditions and my mum died of a lung condition despite never having been a smoker. I grew up with severe asthma, as did my son.
"I now have a life-limiting lung condition and my granddaughter has regular trips to A&E with her asthma" she adds "That's four generations of one family living with poor lung health which has had a massive impact on our quality of life. This isn't the first research to link health and air pollution. How many more generations are going to be affected by this issue? Surely local and national government should be held to account?"
Andrea Lee, clean air campaigns and policy manager at ClientEarth, adds: "Toxic air puts an unfair burden on people's lives. The good news is that solutions are available. The UK's first clean air zone in London is already having an impact. But much more needs to be done to help people across the country move to cleaner forms of transport.
"To better protect people's health, the next UK Government also needs to raise the bar by making a binding commitment to meet stricter WHO guidelines by 2030" she explain "If politicians were not already convinced by the abundant evidence that air pollution seriously harms our health, could this new research be the tipping point?"
To download the full report – click here (available for four days)
See also Manchester Friends of the Earth Call For All General Election Candidates To Support Call For Urgent Action on Pollution - click here
For a background on Salford's pollution and health problems see previous Salford Star articles...
Salford's Illegal Killer Roads Revealed - click here
Salford Joint Worst Pollution Hotspot in England - click here
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