Air pollution in the United Kingdom

File:Air-pollution-london (OWID 0075).png

Air pollution is often assumed to have begun with the Industrial Revolution, but it's a much older problem.{{cite book|author1-link=Peter Brimblecombe|last1=Brimblecombe |first1=Peter |title=The Big Smoke: A History of Air Pollution in London Since Medieval Times |date=1987 |publisher=Methuen |isbn=1136703292 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bTKGdPwzYCwC |access-date=20 September 2021}}

Mining has existed in Great Britain since prehistoric times and lead mines (such as Charterhouse in Somerset and Odin Mine in Derbyshire) may have been worked before Roman Britain. The Pipe Rolls refer to lead and silver smelting in the Middle Ages.{{cite journal|last1=French|first1=C. N.|title=The 'Submerged Forest' palaeosols of Cornwall|journal=The 'Submerged Forest' Palaeosols of Cornwall. Geoscience in South-west England. 1999|volume=9|pages=365–369|url=http://ussher.org.uk/journal/90s/1999/documents/French_1999.pdf|access-date=11 April 2020|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402103928/http://ussher.org.uk/journal/90s/1999/documents/French_1999.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{cite book|last=Ford|first=Trevor David|title=Rocks & Scenery of the Peak District|pages=80|year=2002|publisher=Landmark Publishing Ltd.|location=Ashbourne, Derbyshire}}{{cite journal|last1=Rieuwerts|first1=J.H.|last2=Ford|first2=T. David.|journal=Bulletin of the Peak District Mines Historical Society|title=Odin Mine|volume=6|number=4|pages=7|year=1976}}{{NHLE|num=1014870|desc=Odin Mine nucleated lead mine and ore works, 350m WNW of Knowlegates Farm|access-date=8 April 2020}} Research on a Swiss ice-core indicates that atmospheric pollution containing lead between the years 1170 and 1216 was as high as that during the Industrial Revolution, correlating accurately with smelting in the Peak District, the primary European source of lead and silver at the time, with spikes in pollution associated closely with the increasing power of successive monarchs during their reigns.{{cite journal|journal=Antiquity|title=Alpine ice-core evidence for the transformation of the European monetary system, AD 640–670|volume=92|issue=366|last1=Loveluck|first1=Christopher P.|last2=McCormick|first2=Michael|last3=Spaulding|first3=Nicole E.|last4=Clifford|first4=Heather|last5=Handley|first5=Michael J.|last6=Hartman|first6=Laura|last7=Hoffmann|first7=Helene|last8=Korotkikh|first8=Elena V.|last9=Kurbatov|first9=Andrei V.|last10=More|first10=Alexander F.|last11=Sneed|first11=Sharon B.|last12=Mayewski|first12=Paul A.|date=2018 |pages=1571–1585 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2018.110 |s2cid=165543389 |doi-access=free}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/ice-core-lead|title=Alpine glacier reveals lead pollution from C12th Britain as bad as Industrial Revolution|website=www.nottingham.ac.uk|access-date=8 April 2020}}{{cite journal|title=Alpine ice and the annual political economy of the Angevin Empire, from the death of Thomas Becket to Magna Carta, c. AD 1170–1216|last1=Loveluck|first1=Christopher P.|last2=More|first2=Alexander F.|last3=Spaulding|first3=Nicole E.|last4=Clifford|first4=Heather|last5=Handley|first5=Michael J.|last6=Hartman|first6=Laura|last7=Korotkikh|first7=Elena V.|last8=Kurbatov|first8=Andrei V.|last9=Mayewski|first9=Paul A.|last10=Sneed|first10=Sharon B.|last11=McCormick|first11=Michael|journal=Antiquity|year=2020|volume=94|issue=374|pages=473–490|doi=10.15184/aqy.2019.202|s2cid=216250193|doi-access=free}}

In 1306, Edward I introduced the first prohibitive environmental law, against the usage of 'sea coal' from Northumbria. Sulphur-rich coal from this exposed seam was increasingly being used because of dwindling supplies of wood in and around cities, but it produced stifling smoke and fumes. The legislation made little difference to the population even up to Elizabeth I's time.

By the 1600s, smoke pollution was also having an effect on building exteriors. In a landmark legal case from 1610, judgment was awarded to William Aldred against his neighbour, with references to the smell of pig sties and fumes from lime kilns, "stopping of the wholesome air" and "infecting and corrupting the air".{{cite book|last1=Fraser|first1=John Farquhar|title=The Reports of Sir Edward Coke, Knt: In Thirteen Parts|volume=5|pages=102|year=1826|publisher=J. Butterworth & Son|location=London|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dVYDAAAAQAAJ}}{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/king-edwards-is-clean-air-law-xrkdxj95t|title=King Edward's I's clean air law|website=The Times|access-date=11 April 2020|last1=Simons|first1=Paul}}{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/air-pollution-goes-back-way-further-you-think-180957716/|title=Air Pollution Goes Back Way Further Than You Think|website=www.smithsonianmag.com|access-date=11 April 2020}}

Through the 1800s, coal-burning for the Industrial Revolution in particular made the UK the world's leading source of carbon-based air pollution by a great margin (surpassed by the United States in 1888 and Germany in 1913).{{cite book |last1=Thorsheim |first1=Peter |title=Inventing Pollution: Coal, Smoke, and Culture in Britain since 1800 |date=2006 |publisher=Ohio University Press |isbn=0821442104 |page=4 |access-date=20 September 2021|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AajOxKkjCUYC}}{{cite journal|url=https://www.wri.org/blog/2014/05/history-carbon-dioxide-emissions|title=The History of Carbon Dioxide Emissions|website=www.wri.org|date=21 May 2014|access-date=11 April 2020|last1=Friedrich|first1=Johannes|last2=Damassa|first2=Thomas}} Local campaigning societies sprang up to complain about the health risks, such as the Committee for the Consumption of Smoke in Leeds. The Alkali Act 1863 was passed – and intermittently amended – to regulate irritant gaseous hydrochloric acid produced in the Leblanc process to make sodium carbonate, but also the sulphuric acid often caused by emissions from the same factories.{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1873/jul/04/alkali-act-1863-petition-for-amendment|title=ALKALI ACT (1863)—PETITION FOR AMENDMENT.—OBSERVATIONS.|website=api.parliament.uk|access-date=12 April 2020}} The Public Health Act 1875 was passed, which legislated not just for the health effects of air pollution but also the visual effects.

Greater scientific efforts to measure air pollution played an increasing part in drawing attention to the problem. Robert Angus Smith made the first measurements of acid rain from rain samples in 1852.{{cite journal|display-authors=5|last1=Fowler |first1=David|author1-link=David Fowler (physicist)|last2=Brimblecombe |first2=Peter|author2-link=Peter Brimblecombe|last3=Burrows |first3=John |last4=Heal |first4=Mathew |last5=Grennfelt |first5=Peringe |last6=Stevenson|first6=David|first7=Alan|last7=Jowett|first8=Eiko|last8=Nemitz|first9=Mhairi|last9=Coyle|first10=Xuejun|last10=Liu|first11=Yunhua|last11=Chang|first12=Gary|last12=Fuller|first13=Mark|last13=Sutton|first14=Zbigniew|last14=Klimont|first15=Mike|last15=Unsworth|first16=Massimo|last16=Vieno|title=A chronology of global air quality |journal=Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A |date=30 October 2020 |volume=378 |issue=2183 |doi=10.1098/rsta.2019.0314 |pmid=32981430|pmc=7536029 |bibcode=2020RSPTA.37890314F }} During the early 20th century, scientific studies were driven by the Committee for the Investigation of Atmospheric Pollution (later known as the Advisory Committee on Atmospheric Pollution), a group of scientists including Irish physician and environmental engineer John Switzer Owens and Sir Napier Shaw, linked to the Met Office, who greatly advanced the systematic study and measurement of pollution using a network of deposit gauges.{{cite book |last1=Fuller |first1=Gary |title=The Rising Global Threat of Air Pollution – and How We Can Fight Back |date=2019 |publisher=Melville House |location=London |isbn=9781911545514 |pages=23–35|quote=... John Switzer Owens, who more than any other person would define the transformation of air pollution science from the haphazard investigations of Victorian gentlemen into a systematic national surveillance program...}}{{cite book |last1=Brimblecombe |first1=Peter|author1-link=Peter Brimblecombe|title=The Big Smoke: A History of Air Pollution in London Since Medieval Times |date=1987 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=9781136703294 |pages=132, 149 |quote=... J.S.Owens, who did so much to set up the early monitoring network in the British Isles...}}{{cite journal | last1 = Mosley | first1 = Stephen | title = 'A Network of Trust': Measuring and Monitoring Air Pollution in British Cities, 1912–1960 | journal = Environment and History | date = 1 August 2009 | volume = 15 | issue = 3 | pages = 273–302 | issn = 0967-3407 | doi = 10.3197/096734009X12474738131074 | pmid = | url = http://www.environmentandsociety.org/node/3379}}

Experiments by the London County Council and the Meteorological Council from 1902 to 1903 found that 20% of London fogs were due to smoke alone, all were made denser and longer-lasting by smoke and that the death rate "enormously expands" during the fogs.{{cite EB1911 |last1=Masson |first1=David Orme |last2=Chubb|first2=Laurence Wensley |wstitle=Smoke |volume=25 |page=276}} By the 20th century – at least – respiratory diseases were the UK's biggest killers [the death-rate from bronchitis in the UK remained the highest in the world in the early 1950s, 65 per 100,000 in England and Wales, more than twice than of the nearest other country, Belgium].{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1955/feb/16/air-pollution|title=AIR POLLUTION|website=api.parliament.uk|access-date=12 April 2020}}

{{main|Great Smog of London}}

File:Nelson's Column during the Great Smog of 1952.jpg of 1952 in London]]

Early in December 1952, a cold fog descended upon London. Because of the cold, Londoners began to burn more coal than usual. The resulting air pollution was trapped by the inversion layer formed by the dense mass of cold air. Concentrations of pollutants, coal smoke in particular, built up dramatically. The problem was made worse by use of low-quality, high-sulphur coal for home heating in London in order to permit export of higher-quality coal, because of the country's tenuous postwar economic situation. The "fog", or smog, was so thick that driving became difficult or impossible.{{cite news | author = Nielsen, John | title = The Killer Fog of '52: Thousands died as Poisonous Air Smothered London | publisher = National Public Radio | date = 2002-12-12 | url = https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=873954}} The extreme reduction in visibility was accompanied by an increase in criminal activity as well as transportation delays and a virtual shut down of the city. During the 4 day period of smog, some 3,000–4,000 people were estimated to have died, though more recent estimates suggest the actual figure may have been as high as 12,000.{{cite news | title = On this Day: 1952 London Fog Clears After days of Chaos | publisher = BBC News | date = 2005-12-09 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/9/newsid_4506000/4506390.stm}}{{cite journal |author1= Bell, M.L. |author2=Davis, D.L. |author3=Fletcher, T. |date=2004 | title = A Retrospective Assessment of Mortality from the London Smog Episode of 1952: The Role of Influenza and Pollution | journal=Environ Health Perspect | volume = 112 | issue = 1; January | pages = 6–8 | doi = 10.1289/ehp.6539 | pmid=14698923 | pmc=1241789|bibcode=2004EnvHP.112....6B }}

Four years after the Great London Smog, Parliament passed the Clean Air Act 1956, which made a substantial difference to urban air quality.{{cite journal |last1=Brimblecombe |first1=Peter|author1-link=Peter Brimblecombe|title=The clean air act after 50 years |journal=Weather |date=2006 |volume=61 |issue=11 |pages=311–314 |doi=10.1256/wea.127.06 |bibcode=2006Wthr...61..311B |s2cid=123552841 |url=https://doi.org/10.1256/wea.127.06 |access-date=18 August 2021}} Even so, air pollution remains a serious environmental issue in the UK over half a century later.{{cite web |last1=Whitty |first1=Chris|author1-link=Chris Whitty|title=Chief Medical Officer's annual report 2022: air pollution |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chief-medical-officers-annual-report-2022-air-pollution |website=UK Government |publisher=Department of Health and Social Care |access-date=29 January 2023 |date=8 December 2022}}

In April 2014, for example, there were warnings of 'very high' air pollution for many areas of England. High levels of pollution in London and other parts of the south east of England were bad enough to cause sore eyes and sore throats and experts warned those with heart conditions and asthma to stay inside.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/03/smog-alert-very-high-air-pollution-levels-spread-across-england-live-updates|title=Smog alert: 'very high' air pollution levels spread across England|first=Matthew|last=Weaver|date=3 April 2014|newspaper=The Guardian}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/03/david-cameron-pollution-uk-smog-africa-dust|title=David Cameron accused of playing down role of pollution in UK smog|first1=Rowena|last1=Mason|first2=|last2=|date=3 April 2014|newspaper=The Guardian}}

Attempts to tackle air pollution through legislation have also continued. On 29 April 2015, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the government must take immediate action to cut air pollution,{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-32512152 |title=Court orders UK to cut NO2 air pollution |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=29 April 2015 |access-date=29 April 2015}} following a case brought by environmental lawyers at ClientEarth.{{cite news|url=http://www.clientearth.org/news/press-releases/uk-supreme-court-orders-government-to-take-immediate-action-on-air-pollution-2843 |title=UK Supreme Court orders Government to take "immediate action" on air pollution |publisher=ClientEarth |date=29 April 2015 |access-date=29 April 2015 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505041213/http://www.clientearth.org/news/press-releases/uk-supreme-court-orders-government-to-take-immediate-action-on-air-pollution-2843 |archive-date=5 May 2015 }}

File:Contributors to London air pollution.png

File:Sources of air pollution in the UK, OWID.svg

File:UK annual emissions of PM2.5 by major emissions sources, 1990, 2005, 2019 and 2020.jpg

The UK has established an air quality network where levels of the key air pollutants{{cite web|url=http://www.airquality.co.uk/archive/what_causes.php|title=The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA): Air Pollution|access-date=2010-08-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406013104/http://www.airquality.co.uk/archive/what_causes.php|archive-date=2009-04-06|url-status=dead}} are published by monitoring centres.{{cite web|url=http://www.airquality.co.uk/archive/laqm/laqm.php|title=LAQM Air Quality Management Areas|access-date=2010-08-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090402015224/http://www.airquality.co.uk/archive/laqm/laqm.php|archive-date=2009-04-02|url-status=dead}} Air quality in Oxford, Bath and London{{cite web|url=http://www.londonair.org.uk/london/asp/default.asp|title=London Air Quality Network – The comprehensive source of information about air pollution in London – Home}} is particularly poor. One study[https://www.theguardian.com/society/2004/aug/28/environment.medicineandhealth Taking the Oxford air adds up to a 60-a-day habit] (a newspaper article in The Guardian) performed by the Calor Gas company and published in The Guardian newspaper compared walking in Oxford on an average day to smoking over sixty light cigarettes.

The UK Air Quality Archive contains more precise information{{cite web|url=http://www.airquality.co.uk/archive/index.php|title=Home- Defra, UK|publisher=Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)|website=www.airquality.co.uk}} which permits a city's management of pollutants to be compared against the national air quality objectives{{cite web|url=http://www.airquality.co.uk/archive/laqm/information.php?info=objectives|title=UK National Air Quality Objectives|access-date=2010-08-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417014308/http://www.airquality.co.uk/archive/laqm/information.php?info=objectives|archive-date=2009-04-17|url-status=dead}} set by DEFRA in 2000

Localized peak values are often cited, but average values are also important to human health. The UK National Air Quality Information Archive offers almost real-time monitoring of "current maximum" air pollution measurements for many UK towns and cities.[http://www.airquality.co.uk/archive/bulletin.php?type=Current Current Air Pollution Bulletin] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060113204954/http://www.airquality.co.uk/archive/bulletin.php?type=Current |date=2006-01-13 }} This source offers a wide range of constantly updated data, including:

• Hourly Mean Ozone (μg/m³)
• Hourly Mean Nitrogen dioxide (μg/m³)
• Maximum 15-Minute Mean Sulphur dioxide (μg/m³)
• 8-Hour Mean Carbon monoxide (mg/m³)
• 24-Hour Mean PM₁₀ (μg/m³ Grav Equiv)

DEFRA acknowledges that air pollution has a significant effect on health and has produced a simple banding index system{{cite web|url=http://www.airquality.co.uk/archive/standards.php#band|title=Daily Air Quality Index- Defra, UK|publisher=Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)|website=www.airquality.co.uk}} that is used to create a daily warning system that is issued by the BBC Weather Service to indicate air pollution levels.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?world=0008|title=BBC Weather Service}} DEFRA has published guidelines for people suffering from respiratory and heart diseases.{{cite web|url=http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/airquality/publications/airpoll/05.htm|title=Air Pollution – What it means for your health|access-date=2010-08-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412051208/http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/airquality/publications/airpoll/05.htm|archive-date=2009-04-12|url-status=dead}}

Patients visiting doctors' surgeries, health centres and hospitals are exposed to polluted air that breaches WHO guidelines. A third of GP surgeries and a quarter of hospitals are in areas that breach WHO guidelines. Pollutants, notably toxic particles emitted by diesel vehicles, are linked to lifelong health issues like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, strokes and lung cancer among others.[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/25/patients-at-thousands-of-hospitals-and-gp-practices-breathing-toxic-air Patients at thousands of hospitals and GP practices 'breathing toxic air'] The Guardian

File:Wicken Fen - 8 December 2013 - Wicken Fen - 21.JPG Wicken Fen nature reserve]]

Pollutants, notably toxic particles emitted by diesel vehicles are entering children's lungs, potentially getting into their blood streams and their brains. This can affect children's long-term health, even lifelong health, their life expectancies and their intelligence. The government lost three high court cases because its plans to deal with air pollution were considered too weak; green groups and clean air campaigners frequently criticise the government. Air pollution leads to the equivalent of 40,000 early deaths, seriously impacts the lives of hundreds of thousands more, and costs the NHS and social care services £40m annually.[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/18/school-run-air-pollution-children-black-carbon UK children inhaling toxic air on school run and in classroom] The Guardian The UK has also been taken to the European court due to air pollution.[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/19/uk-is-endangering-peoples-health-by-denying-their-right-to-clean-air-says-un UK is endangering people's health by denying their right to clean air, says UN] The Guardian Queen Mary University of London published research on children's exposure to air pollution across the school day and found that they were disproportionately exposed to higher doses of pollution during the school run and whilst at school – particularly at break time in the school playground.{{cite news |title=THE TOXIC SCHOOL RUN |url=https://www.unicef.org.uk/publications/the-toxic-school-run/ |access-date=31 October 2018 |publisher=Unicef UK |date=October 2018}}

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Royal College of Physicians and Unicef are concerned over winter 2018/2019. Air pollution will worsen as people burn fuel to heat their homes. When people's respiratory systems are weakened through air pollution low temperatures will weaken them further this particularly affects children and elderly people. It is feared hospital patients with respiratory problems will add to the pressure on the NHS which is regularly overburdened in winter.[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/07/uk-children-face-winter-health-crisis-due-to-pollution-say-doctors UK children face winter health crisis due to pollution, say doctors] The Guardian

{{As of|2018}}, approximately 4.5 million children in the UK (one in three) is growing up in a town or city with unsafe levels of particulate pollution.{{cite web | last=Snaith | first=Emma | title=Two-thirds of teachers 'support banning cars near school gates' | website=The Independent | date=2019-03-25 | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/air-pollution-school-car-ban-roads-gates-drop-off-pick-up-teachers-survey-sustrans-a8837836.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326125704/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/air-pollution-school-car-ban-roads-gates-drop-off-pick-up-teachers-survey-sustrans-a8837836.html |archive-date=2019-03-26 |url-access=limited |url-status=live | access-date=2019-03-29}}

{{Update|section|date=December 2024|reason=dated statistics, missing info about the progress of clean air zones outside London, lack of information about transport measures mentioned in lead, too much reliance on specific stories at specific points of time, e.g. 2017/2019, which always instantly dates an article.}}

Toxic air leads to the equivalent of around 40,000 early deaths a year in the UK – 9,000 in London – and it leaves hundreds of thousands more suffering serious long-term health problems.{{cite news|first1=Matthew|last1=Taylor|first2=Amy|last2=Sedghi|access-date=2020-03-12|title=Londoners support charging 'dirty' drivers, says air pollution study|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/08/londoners-back-charging-dirty-drivers-says-air-pollution-study-ulez|newspaper=The Guardian|date=8 April 2019|issn=0261-3077|via=www.theguardian.com}}{{cite web|access-date=2020-03-12|title=Air pollution 'kills 40,000 a year' in the UK, says report|url=https://www.nhs.uk/news/heart-and-lungs/air-pollution-kills-40000-a-year-in-the-uk-says-report/|date=23 February 2016|website=nhs.uk}}{{cite web |last1=Spiegelhalter |first1=David |author1-link=David Spiegelhalter |title=Does air pollution kill 40,000 people each year in the UK? |website=Medium |publisher=Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication |access-date=3 December 2024 |date=20 February 2017|url=https://medium.com/wintoncentre/does-air-pollution-kill-40-000-each-year-people-in-the-uk-ecca96fb3a1a}}

{{see also|Ultra Low Emission Zone}}

London mayor Sadiq Khan launched the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in April 2019 which involves a charge on older diesel and petrol cars with £12.50 per day. Busses pay £100 per day. This follows the London low emission zone plan operating since 2008.{{cite news|first1=Patrick|last1=Collinson|access-date=2020-03-12|title=London's ultra-low emission zone: what you need to know|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jan/05/londons-ultra-low-emission-zone-what-you-need-to-know|newspaper=The Guardian|date=5 January 2019|issn=0261-3077|via=www.theguardian.com}}

The ULEZ was expected to cause a 20% reduction in road traffic emissions and resulted in a drop of the worst polluting vehicles entering the zone each day from 35,578 in March to 26,195 in April after the charge was introduced.{{cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/70-per-cent-of-vehicles-meet-new-ulez-standards-in-first-weeks-of-charge-a4129076.html|title=Seventy per cent of vehicles meet new Ulez standards in first weeks of charge ROSS LYDALL |work=London Evening Standard |access-date=5 May 2019}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/may/16/ulez-cuts-number-of-worst-polluting-cars-in-central-london |title=ULEZ cuts number of worst polluting cars in central London|website=TheGuardian.com|date=16 May 2019 |last1=Taylor |first1=Matthew }} A poll in April 2019 by YouGov found that 72% of Londoners supported using emissions charging to tackle both air pollution and congestion.

The zone was extended to the North and South Circular from 2021 so that it covers an area containing 3.8 million people.{{cite web|url=https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/fleet-industry-news/2017/11/03/london-mayor-confirms-ultra-low-emission-zone-will-start-in-2019|title=London Mayor confirms Ultra-Low Emission Zone will start in 2019|website=www.fleetnews.co.uk}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-47814416 |title=ULEZ: The politics of London's air pollution|work=BBC News |date=5 April 2019 }} A month into the expansion, TfL said that the proportion of compliant vehicles had risen from 87% to 92%, and the number of the most polluting vehicles had fallen by over a third (from 127,000 to 80,000 on weekdays).{{cite web |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/ulez-expansion-tfl-diesel-polluting-sadiq-khan-north-south-circular-b971107.html |title=Ulez expansion revealed to have cut 'dirty' vehicles by over a third|date=10 December 2021 }} The zone was further extended to the whole of Greater London in August 2023.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66592199 |title=

Ulez expanded to include whole of outer London |work=BBC News | date=29 August 2023 }}

On the other hand, COMEAP has reported on the relative risks of breathing air pollution in different situations. In January 2019, for example, it reported that pollution from particulates is up to 30 times higher on the London Underground than on streets in the roads above, with the Northern Line having the worst air quality.{{cite news |last1=Finnis |first1=Alex |title=One hour on the tube is as toxic as standing next to a busy road for an entire day |url=https://inews.co.uk/news/uk/air-pollution-london-underground-tube-equivalent-busy-road-244546 |work=iNews |date=10 January 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Oglesby |first1=Kate |title=Dust and air pollution higher on Northern Line than any other part of the Underground |work=The Times |date=12 January 2019}}

{{Further|Phase-out of fossil fuel vehicles#Cities and territories}}

In Europe, Council Directive 96/62/EC on ambient air quality assessment and management provides a common strategy against which member states can "set objectives for ambient air quality in order to avoid, prevent or reduce harmful effects on human health and the environment ... and improve air quality where it is unsatisfactory".{{cite web|last=Europa |date=1996 |title=Summaries of EU legislation – Management and quality of ambient air |url=http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/other/l28031a_en.htm |access-date=24 January 2015}}

In July 2008, in the case Dieter Janecek v. Freistaat Bayern, the European Court of Justice ruled that under this directive citizens have the right to require national authorities to implement a short term action plan that aims to maintain or achieve compliance to air quality limit values.{{cite web|website=European Court of Justice |date=2008 |title=PRESS RELEASE No 58/08 Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-237/07 |url=http://curia.europa.eu/en/actu/communiques/cp08/aff/cp080058en.pdf |access-date=24 January 2015}}Overview of relevant case law and critical state of air pollution protection in the EU: Winfried Huck, Jennifer Maaß, Saparya Sood, Tahar Benmaghnia, Alexander Schulte, Sarah Heß and Marc-Anthony Walter, The Right to Breathe Clean Air and Access to Justice - Legal State of Play in International, European and National Law (2021) in 8(22) International Institutions: Transnational Networks eJournal, available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3808572

This important case law appears to confirm the role of the EC as centralised regulator to European nation-states as regards air pollution control. It places a supranational legal obligation on the UK to protect its citizens from dangerous levels of air pollution, furthermore superseding national interests with those of the citizen.

In 2010, the European Commission (EC) threatened the UK with legal action against the successive breaching of PM₁₀ limit values.{{cite web|author=European Commission |title=Air quality: Commission sends final warning to UK over levels of fine particle pollution |url=http://ec.europa.eu/unitedkingdom/press/press_releases/2010/pr1055_en.htm |access-date=7 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511090215/http://ec.europa.eu/unitedkingdom/press/press_releases/2010/pr1055_en.htm |archive-date=11 May 2011 }} The UK government has identified that if fines are imposed, they could cost the nation upwards of £300 million per year.{{cite web|author=House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee |date=2010 |title=Environmental Audit Committee – Fifth Report Air Quality |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmenvaud/229/22902.htm |access-date=24 January 2015}}

In March 2011, the Greater London Built-up Area remained the only UK region in breach of the EC's limit values, and was given three months to implement an emergency action plan aimed at meeting the EU Air Quality Directive.{{cite news|last=Mulholland |first=Hélène |title=Britain fends off threat of £300m fine over London air pollution |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/mar/11/britain-300m-fine-london-air-pollution |access-date=24 January 2015 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=11 March 2011}} The City of London has dangerous levels of PM₁₀ concentrations, estimated to cause 3000 deaths per year within the city.{{cite web|website=London Assembly Environment Committee |date=May 2009 |title=Every Breath You Take |url=https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/FINAL%20AIR%20QUALITY%20REPORT.pdf |access-date=22 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222163223/https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/FINAL%20AIR%20QUALITY%20REPORT.pdf |archive-date=22 February 2015}} As well as the threat of EU fines, in 2010 it was threatened with legal action for scrapping the western congestion charge zone, which is claimed to have led to an increase in air pollution levels.{{cite news|author=BBC |title=Threat to sue over London congestion charge scrapping |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-11928005 |access-date=24 January 2015 |work=BBC News |date=6 December 2010}}

In response to these charges, mayor of London Boris Johnson has criticised the current need for European cities to communicate with Europe through their nation state's central government, arguing that in future "A great city like London" should be permitted to bypass its government and deal directly with the European Commission regarding its air quality action plan.

This can be interpreted as recognition that cities can transcend the traditional national government organisational hierarchy and develop solutions to air pollution using global governance networks, for example through transnational relations. Transnational relations include but are not exclusive to national governments and intergovernmental organisations,{{cite book|last=Risse-Kappen |first=T. |title=Bringing transnational relations back in: non-state actors, domestic structures, and international institutions |year=1995 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |pages=3–34}} allowing sub-national actors including cities and regions to partake in air pollution control as independent actors.

If a local authority finds an area where the targets are not likely to be met, it must declare it an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA){{cite web|url=http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/aqma/|title=Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs)- Defra, UK|first=Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)|last=webmaster@defra.gsi.gov.uk|website=uk-air.defra.gov.uk}} and produce a Local Air Quality Action Plan{{cite web|url=http://laqm.defra.gov.uk/action-planning/aqap-supporting-guidance.html |title=Action Planning Guidance and Help. Action Planning. Local Air Quality Management Support – Defra, UK |publisher=Laqm.defra.gov.uk |date=2010-04-05 |access-date=2018-10-02}} to improve the air quality. DEFRA has published a list of local authorities with AQMAs.{{cite web|url=http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/aqma/list |title=List of Local Authorities with AQMAs – Defra, UK |publisher=Uk-air.defra.gov.uk |access-date=2018-10-02}} The action plan may include measures for idle reduction of vehicle engines. An example is the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley.{{cite web|url=http://www.dudley.gov.uk/business/environmental-health/pollution-control/air-quality/vehicle-air-pollution/|title=Idling Vehicles Contribute to Air Pollution|website=www.dudley.gov.uk}}

{{expand section|date=October 2024}}

In the United Kingdom domestic combustion is the largest single source of PM{{sub|2.5}} and PM{{sub|10}} annually{{needs update|date=October 2024}}, with domestic wood burning in both closed stoves and open fires responsible for 38% of PM{{sub|2.5}} in 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/emissions-of-air-pollutants/emissions-of-air-pollutants-in-the-uk-1970-to-2018-particulate-matter-pm10-and-pm25|title = Emissions of air pollutants| date=22 February 2023 }}{{cite journal |vauthors=Hawkes N |title=Air pollution in UK: the public health problem that won't go away |journal=BMJ |volume=350 |issue= |pages=h2757 |date=May 2015 |pmid=26001592 |doi=10.1136/bmj.h2757 |s2cid=40717317 |url=}}{{Cite web|last=Carrington|first=Damian|date=2021-02-16|title=Wood burning at home now biggest cause of UK particle pollution|url=http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/16/home-wood-burning-biggest-cause-particle-pollution-fires|access-date=2022-02-13|website=The Guardian|language=en}}

To tackle the problem some new laws were introduced. Starting from May 2021, traditional house coal (bituminous coal) and wet wood, two of the most polluting fuels, can no longer be sold. Wood sold in volumes of less than 2m³ must be certified as 'Ready to Burn', which means it has a moisture content of 20% or less. Manufactured solid fuels must also be certified as 'Ready to Burn' to ensure they meet sulphur and smoke emission limits.{{cite web | url=https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/library/burnbetter/ |title=Burn better: Making changes for cleaner air}} Starting from 2022, all new wood burning stoves have to meet new EcoDesign standards (Ecodesign stoves produce 450 times more toxic air pollution than gas central heating. Older stoves, which are now banned from sale, produce 3,700 times more).{{cite web | url=https://www.london.gov.uk/programmes-and-strategies/environment-and-climate-change/pollution-and-air-quality/guidance-wood-burning-london | title=Guidance for wood burning in London}} In 2023, the amount of smoke that burners in "smoke control areas" - most England's towns and cities - can emit per hour is reduced from 5g to 3g. Violation will result in an on-the-spot fine of up to £300 and may even get a criminal record.{{cite web | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/log-burners-rules-wood-stoves-b2276589.html?amp | title=Log burners: What are the new rules and are they going to be banned?| website=Independent.co.uk| date=6 February 2023}}

On 26 July 2017, the British government announced plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in Britain by 2040.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-40723581|title=New diesel and petrol cars face 2040 ban|date=26 July 2017|via=www.bbc.co.uk}} This follows a similar announcement by the French government on 6 July 2017.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jul/06/france-ban-petrol-diesel-cars-2040-emmanuel-macron-volvo|title=France to ban sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2040|first1=Angelique|last1=Chrisafis|first2=Adam|last2=Vaughan|date=6 July 2017|website=The Guardian}}

On 25 July 2017, BMW announced that it would start production of an all-electric version of the Mini at its plant in Cowley, Oxfordshire, in 2019.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-40718892|title=Electric Mini to be built in Oxford|date=25 July 2017|via=www.bbc.co.uk}} Volvo had earlier announced that all its new cars from 2019 would be electric or hybrid.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jul/05/volvo-cars-electric-hybrid-2019|title=All Volvo cars to be electric or hybrid from 2019|first=Adam|last=Vaughan|date=5 July 2017|website=The Guardian}}

Air pollution has been simultaneously tackled as both a scientific problem (needing further research) and an environmental and public health issue (requiring changes in public behaviour) in the UK since the late 19th century.{{cite book | first = Peter|last= Thorsheim | date = 16 April 2018 | title = Inventing Pollution: Coal, Smoke, and Culture in Britain since 1800 | publisher = Ohio University Press | pages = | isbn = 978-0-8214-4627-0 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lcdVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT6}}

Scientists who set out to investigate air pollution often found themselves raising awareness of the problem and sometimes actively campaigning against it. Robert Angus Smith lectured on subjects such as urban sanitation and acid rain{{cite book |last1=Reed |first1=Peter |title=Acid Rain and the Rise of the Environmental Chemist: in Nineteenth-Century Britain The Life and Work of Robert Angus Smith |date=2016 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781317185833 |pages=9–10 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5xPPCwAAQBA |access-date=26 September 2023}}{{cite book |last1=Mangham |first1=Andrew |editor1-last=Mangham |editor1-first=Andrew |editor2-last=Lawlor |editor2-first=Clark |title=Literature and Medicine: Volume 2: The Nineteenth Century |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=179 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ipgsEAAAQBAJ |access-date=26 September 2023 |chapter=9: Medicine, Sanitary Reform, and Literature of Urban Poverty|date=24 June 2021 |isbn=9781108420747 }} and, in the 1840s, wrote two lengthy, heartfelt letters to The Manchester Guardian highlighting the problem of air pollution, noting: "The gloominess and uncleanness is everywhere around us; the depression of filth on the spirits and on the pockets is continually before our eyes; the destruction of our landscapes and of our town views is undoubted, and can we fail to look upon this as a small evil?"{{cite book |last1=Kargon |first1=Robert H. |title=Science in Victorian Manchester: Enterprise and Expertise |date=1977 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |location=New Brunswick |pages=115–116 |isbn=978-1-4128-3373-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GeaT8lpb2kgC |access-date=26 September 2023}} The meteorologist Rollo Russell, who warned of London's dangerous "fogs" in 1880, over 70 years before the Great London Smog, has been described as a "forceful" campaigner, while John Switzer Owens, who helped to establish pollution monitoring across the UK, was closely linked to the first major British air pollution campaign group, the Coal Smoke Abatement Society (CSAS), established in 1898 (later renamed the National Society for Clean Air and now known as Environmental Protection UK).{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Napier |last2=Owens |first2=John Switzer |title=The Smoke Problem of Great Cities |date=1925 |publisher=Constable & Company |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/smokeproblemofgr00shaw|access-date=23 September 2023|page=viii}}

British air pollution campaigning currently involves a mixture of grassroots activism (by groups such as Mums for Lungs and individual campaigners such as Rosamund Kissi-Debrah),{{cite news |last1=Wilson |first1=Sarah |title='Imagine if all politicians were affected': The battle to end air pollution |url=https://www.bigissue.com/news/environment/the-battle-to-end-air-pollution/ |access-date=23 December 2022 |work=The Big Issue |date=8 October 2022}} public health awareness (through events such as Clean Air Day),{{cite web |title=Clean Air Day 2018: UK's largest air pollution campaign |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/clean-air-day-2018-uks-largest-air-pollution-campaign |website=Gov.uk |publisher=Public Health England |access-date=4 January 2022}} legal work (advanced by activist lawyers such as ClientEarth),{{cite web |title=Air Pollution |url=https://www.clientearth.org/what-we-do/priorities/air-pollution/ |website=Client Earth |access-date=23 September 2023}} and more traditional campaigning (by environmental groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, public health advocacy groups such as British Lung Foundation and Asthma UK, and organizations that raise health and safety issues, such as the British Safety Council).{{cite web |title=Millions of people in the UK with lung conditions could be at risk from toxic air – new estimates |url=https://www.blf.org.uk/media/press-releases/millions-people-uk-lung-conditions-could-be-risk-toxic-air-new-estimates |website=Asthma+Lung UK |access-date=23 September 2023 |date=14 June 2022}}{{cite web |title=Time to Breathe: Air Pollution Campaign |url=https://www.britsafe.org/campaigns-policy/time-to-breathe-air-pollution-campaign/ |website=British Safety Council |access-date=23 September 2023}} Citizen science projects combine scientific research with public health awareness raising and grassroots environmental campaigning.{{cite news |last1=Fuller |first1=Gary |title=Pollutionwatch: citizen science helps raise alarm on UK air pollution |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/13/pollutionwatch-citizen-science-alarm-uk-air-pollution |access-date=23 September 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=13 January 2023}}{{cite web |title=Public to measure UK air pollution in huge citizen science project |url=https://friendsoftheearth.uk/climate/public-measure-uk-air-pollution-huge-citizen-science-project |website=Friends of the Earth UK |access-date=23 September 2023 |date=1 March 2017}}

UK government advisory bodies such as the Air Quality Expert Group (AQEG) and Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) are not campaigning organizations, but activists and journalists often draw on their scientific reports to support campaign work and media articles designed to raise public awareness.{{cite news |last1=Boseley |first1=Sarah |title=Air pollution may cause more UK deaths than previously thought, say scientists |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/02/air-pollution-may-cause-more-uk-deaths-than-previously-thought-say-scientists |access-date=24 August 2021 |date=2 April 2015}}{{cite news |title=Air pollution is 'likely' to raise dementia risk, find UK government expert |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/27/air-pollution-is-likely-to-raise-dementia-risk-find-uk-government-experts |access-date=27 July 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=27 July 2022}} Academic scientists, such as Frank Kelly (of Imperial College) and Alastair Lewis (of the National Centre for Atmospheric Science), who include public outreach as part of their work on air pollution, also play an important part in awareness raising and campaigning by connecting science to public policy.{{cite news |last1=Carrington |first1=Damian |title=Electric cars are not the answer to air pollution, says top UK adviser |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/04/fewer-cars-not-electric-cars-beat-air-pollution-says-top-uk-adviser-prof-frank-kelly |access-date=22 August 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=4 August 2017}}{{Cite news|url=https://theconversation.com/clean-air-strategy-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-uks-latest-pollution-policy-96889|title=Clean air strategy: what you need to know about the UK's latest pollution policy|last=Lewis|first=Alastair|work=The Conversation|access-date=2018-06-26|language=en}}

• DAPPLE Project
• Environmental history
• Environmental issues in the United Kingdom
• Microplastics
• Pea soup fog
• Rapid transit

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite web |last1=Whitty |first1=Chris|author-link=Chris Whitty|title=Chief Medical Officer's Annual Report 2022: Air Pollution |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chief-medical-officers-annual-report-2022-air-pollution |website=UK Government |publisher=Department of Health and Social Care |access-date=29 January 2023 |date=8 December 2022}}

• {{cite book | first1=Gary|last1=Fuller | date = 2019 | title = The Invisible Killer: The Rising Global Threat of Air Pollution- and How We Can Fight Back | publisher = Melville House | pages = | isbn = 978-1-61219-783-8}}
• {{cite book | first1 = Tim|last1=Smedley | date = 2021 | title = Clearing the Air: The Beginning and the End of Air Pollution | publisher = Bloomsbury Publishing | pages = | isbn = 978-1-4729-5333-9 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GQhbEAAAQBAJ}}
• {{cite book | first1 = Chris |last1=Woodford|author1-link=Chris Woodford (author) | date = 2021 | title = Breathless: Why Air Pollution Matters – and How it Affects You | publisher = Icon Books | pages = | isbn = 978-1-78578-710-2 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0lEXEAAAQBAJ}}

• {{cite journal | last1 = Anderson | first1 = H.R. | title = Air pollution and mortality: A history | journal = Atmospheric Environment | date = January 2009 | volume = 43 | issue = 1 | pages = 142–152 | issn = 1352-2310 | doi = 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2008.09.026 | pmid = | bibcode = 2009AtmEn..43..142A | url = }}
• {{cite book | first1 =Peter | last1=Brimblecombe | date = 26 July 2012 | title = The Big Smoke: A History of Air Pollution in London since Medieval Times | publisher = Routledge | pages = | isbn = 978-1-136-70329-4 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bTKGdPwzYCwC}}
• {{cite journal |display-authors=5| last1 = Fowler |first1 = David| author1-link=David Fowler (physicist) |last2 = Brimblecombe | first2 = Peter | last3 = Burrows | first3 = John | last4 = Heal | first4 = Mathew R. | last5 = Grennfelt | first5 = Peringe | last6 = Stevenson | first6 = David S. | last7 = Jowett | first7 = Alan | last8 = Nemitz | first8 = Eiko | last9 = Coyle | first9 = Mhairi | last10 = Liu | first10 = Xuejun | last11 = Chang | first11 = Yunhua | last12 = Fuller | first12 = Gary W. | last13 = Sutton | first13 = Mark A. | last14 = Klimont | first14 = Zbigniew | last15 = Unsworth | first15 = Mike H. | last16 = Vieno | first16 = Massimo | title = A chronology of global air quality | journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences | date = 28 September 2020 | volume = 378 | issue = 2183 | page = 20190314 | issn = 1364-503X | eissn = 1471-2962 | doi = 10.1098/rsta.2019.0314 | pmid = 32981430 | pmc = 7536029 | bibcode = 2020RSPTA.37890314F | url = }}
• {{cite book | title = Environmental History | last = Mosley | first = Stephen | chapter = Environmental History of Air Pollution and Protection | date = 2014 | volume = 4 | pages = 143–169 | publisher = Springer International Publishing | issn = 2211-9019 | eissn = 2211-9027 | doi = 10.1007/978-3-319-09180-8_5| isbn = 978-3-319-09179-2 }}
• {{cite book | first = Peter|last= Thorsheim | date = 16 April 2018 | title = Inventing Pollution: Coal, Smoke, and Culture in Britain since 1800 | publisher = Ohio University Press | pages = | isbn = 978-0-8214-4627-0 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lcdVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT6}}

{{Commonscatinline}}

• [https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/ UK Air: Air Information Resource] from UK Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
• [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-matters-air-pollution/health-matters-air-pollution Health matters: air pollution] from UK Government

{{pollution}}

{{europe topic|Air pollution in}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Air Pollution In The United Kingdom}}

Category:Environmental issues in the United Kingdom