In the UK, air quality has improved vastly since the 1950s when a pall of smog hung over its towns and cities, caused by coal fires in the home and factory chimneys. However, air pollution is still an issue in the UK, particularly for airborne particles and nitrogen dioxide.
Air pollution is often thought to a problem that only affects cities and major conurbations. But increasingly air quality in smaller towns and even rural areas in the UK is failing to meet EU standards.
Much of the pollution is down to traffic – for example, in north Devon the route that connects the towns of Exeter and Barnstaple goes through the centre of each town, bringing 14,000 vehicles every single day into contact with the populations. Without measures to reduce traffic, the problem seems only to be getting worse.
London has provided one example of how to improve air quality by introducing a low emission zone. To drive in the zone, the most polluting heavy diesel vehicles have to meet certain emissions standards so that the amount of pollution from their exhausts is reduced. The vehicles affected include lorries, vans and taxis.
However, even the leafy suburbs around the UK’s capital are not immune from the effects of the congested traffic that besieges London with Department of Health figures revealing in 2013 that up to 9% of residents die prematurely from the effects of air pollution.