The risk of dying from long-term exposure to London’s toxic air has risen for a second year running in an “utterly horrifying” reversal of the previous improving trend.
The rate of fatalities linked to breathing in killer particles went up from 6.4 per cent to 6.5 per cent in 2017, according to computer-modelled estimates from government body Public Health England.
That followed a jump from 5.6 per cent to 6.4 per cent the previous year, suggesting that efforts to clean up particulate pollution are having little impact. Before that the death rate had been falling since 2010.
Campaigners said the figures were a “terrible reminder” of the dangers of breathing in contaminated air over a long period.
A breakdown also shows that the death rate for a lifetime of exposure to microscopic PM2.5 particles created by diesel engines, coal-burning power stations, wood fires, agriculture and building sites is rising in almost three quarters of boroughs.
Across London’s 33 local authority areas, the fatality rate rose in 24, stayed the same in eight and fell slightly in just one, Merton.
The highest was in the City, where it leaped from 6.8 per cent to 7.1 per cent. Scientists warn that tiny particulate pollution is especially dangerous as the specks of dirt can be absorbed deep into the lungs and then seep into the bloodstream — contributing to heart and lung disease, cancer, and aggravating asthma.
Caroline Russell, Green Party member of the London Assembly, said of the figures: “This is utterly horrifying. How much more evidence do we need that our filthy air is ruining the health of Londoners?”
They come after Theresa May committed Britain to becoming the first major industrialised nation to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
