Britain's dirty cities more dangerous than an A-bomb
03 April 2007
By Thair Shaikh
Air pollution in major cities is potentially more damaging to health than being exposed to the radioactive fallout of an atomic bomb, according to a report published today.
The study suggests that high levels of urban air pollution cut life expectancy by more than the radiation exposure of emergency workers sent into the 19-mile exclusion zone around the Chernobyl disaster.
Millions of people were exposed to dangerous levels of radiation when the former Soviet nuclear power plant in what is now the Ukraine exploded on 26 April 1986. But the latest findings suggest that the consequences of radiation exposure suffered by survivors of the incident, or the nuclear bombs dropped on Japan by the US in 1945, may be less damaging than previously thought.
Although 30 people died immediately in the two explosions at Chernobyl and up to 16,000 deaths have been linked to the radiation plume that spread across Europe, the research found that moving from Inverness to London could have a worse effect on your health than moving to Chernobyl.
The study follows a report last month from The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, which said air pollution was responsible for 24,000 premature deaths in Britain every year. Sir John Lawton, chairman of the commission, said the Government had consistently failed to tackle rising levels of chemicals in the atmosphere of cities.
Other findings showed that women living in areas of higher pollution were at greater risk of heart disease and death, while children living within 500 metres of motorways suffered more permanent lung damage and lower life expectancy, probably because of their greater exposure to pollutants in vehicle fumes.
Jim Smith, a scientist at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, who carried out the research, assessed the health risks faced by those at Chernobyl directly after the explosion and those who set up home in the exclusion zone afterwards. He compared them with air pollution, obesity and passive and active smoking.
He concluded the Chernobyl group absorbed radiation equivalent to more than the amount emitted during 1,200 chest x-rays, which was likely to cause one extra death in a hundred by increasing the risk of cancer.
The health risks associated with air pollution and passive smoking appear more severe. Pollution in central London increased mortality due to heart disease by 2.8 per cent compared with Inverness, Britain's least polluted city, while living with a smoker increases mortality by 1.7 per cent, the study found.
Writing in the journal BMC Public Health, Dr Smith said: "It is well known that radiation can potentially cause fatal cancers in people, even at relatively low doses. But our understandable fear of radiation needs to be placed in the context of other risks.
"The immediate effects of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs led to approximately 210,000 deaths. However, radiation exposures experienced by the most exposed group of survivors led to an average loss of life expectancy significantly lower than that caused by severe obesity or active smoking."
However, Dr Smith said his calculations were limited by the fact that they excluded wider social and lifestyle factors, which could have an impact on health.
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Vehicle fumes 'stunt lung growth'
26 January 2007
Living too near a busy road could stunt a child's lung development, US research involving 3,677 children suggests.
Children who lived within 500 metres of a major road, such as a motorway, were shown to have lung impairment in tests.
Many children live and go to schools near to busy roads and could be at risk, the University of Southern California authors warn in The Lancet.
Experts already know toxic traffic fumes can trigger lung conditions such as asthma.
Stunted development
But the latest work suggests pollution can stop the lung from growing to its full potential - even in children who are otherwise healthy.
As background air quality did not alter the picture, children living in the countryside but close to a main road would also be at risk, the researchers add.
Children living close to big roads in cities with high levels of background air pollution were likely to be at a greater risk of lung problems however because of the double effect on their lungs, they suggest.
The study
They examined the lung function of 3,677 children annually from the age of 10 until they reached 18 - when the lungs are fully developed.
Those who had lived within 500 metres of a motorway had much poorer lung function at the age of 18 than those who had lived 1,500 meters away or more, even when factors such as smoking in the home were taken into account.
Dr John Peters and colleagues say fumes from cars, bikes and lorries are to blame.
They recommend more work to identify the exact culprits in vehicle exhausts.
This report will be disturbing reading for many parents
Liberal democrat shadow health secretary Norman Lamb MP
Scientists do not know exactly how air pollution hampers lung development, but they believe lung inflammation in response to daily irritation by air pollutants may play a role.
Stephen Holgate, Medical Research Council clinical professor of immunopharmacology at the University of Southampton, said: "The finding builds on accumulating knowledge that the chemicals that are contained in the exhaust emissions of modern vehicles adversely effects the development of the lung through childhood.
"This is probably through their powerful oxidant effect on lung development in the first five to eight years of life."
Oxidative stress is caused by the toxic effect of highly reactive oxygen molecules, called free radicals, which damage cells and DNA.
Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said the work reinforced the case for reducing vehicle emissions.
"This report will be disturbing reading for many parents.
"As road usage continues to increase, this issue will have to be taken seriously."
A government spokeswoman said they would consider the evidence and whether further investigations were needed.
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Car: Carbon MonoxideCar: Carbon Monoxide: Bus
