UP TO 10,000 PEOPLE WILL DIE EARLY FROM AIR POLLUTION IN LONDON IN THE NEXT TEN YEARS

12.01.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 15th Sep 2005

New figures revealed by London Assembly Liberal Democrats today revealed that more than 10,000 people will die early, and another 10,000 admitted to hospital, due to air pollution in London.

The figures show that more than 1,000 people will die prematurely in 2005 from poor air quality, particularly from PM10 and Nitrogen Dioxide levels in the capital with almost another 1,100 admitted to hospital.

The figures came as Mayor Livingstone admitted today that European Union Air Quality standards would continue not to be met until at least the year 2015 - leading to thousands more people dying prematurely.

London Assembly Liberal Democrat environment spokesperson, Mike Tuffrey, said:-

"With a thousand people are dying early each year because of pollution, all the Mayor's talk about improving air quality and being a champion of the environment is wearing a little thin.

"This toxic soup of chemicals is having a devastating effect on Londoners' health. The air pollution in the capital is causing thousands of people to suffer from lung damage.

"The spate of unusually hot summers is taking its toll on air quality in the capital. If global warming and the rise in dangerous vehicle emissions are allowed to continue unchallenged, the situation will only get worse.

"The capital must urgently clean up its act. Instead of dithering and delaying the Mayor needs to get his act together to declare the whole of London a low emissions zone so that Londoners can regain confidence in the air that they breathe."

ENDS

Notes to editor

The answers were from questions put to the Mayor in July and answered in September

Air Quality

Question No: 1455 / 2005

Do you agree with the statement that "even in ten years time, the air quality in some areas, particularly those close to major roads and in the centre of London, is still not likely to meet the EU's air quality targets"? Will you be reviewing your Air Quality Strategy to ensure that this is not the case? Do you agree that traffic reduction will have to be an essential part of any additional measures to improve air quality to meet the EU limits?

Most of the EU air quality targets are already met in London. The exceptions are the targets for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM10). Our predictions indicate that concentrations of these may still exceed the EU standards in 2015 at some locations in London.

I will be reviewing my Air Quality Strategy as part of the implementation of the London Low Emission Zone. A more detailed review of my Air Quality Strategy will be carried out in the future. This will update policies and proposals to improve air quality, taking into consideration changes to national and European air quality policy, which are predicted to be finalised within 12 months

Road transport is responsible for an estimated 63% of NOx emissions and 57% of PM10 emissions in London. We are working hard to reduce traffic and are the only major city to have achieved a modal shift away from the private car. We will continue to reduce emissions from transport, including through traffic reduction, as an essential part of improving air quality to meet the EU limits.

Air quality

Question No: 1476 / 2005

Have the official figures on the number of premature deaths and hospital admissions in the capital as a result of poor air quality altered significantly since the publication of your Air Quality Strategy?

My Air Quality Strategy stated that 1,600 premature deaths and an additional 1,500 hospital admissions were caused by air pollution every year in London.

Current estimates suggest that there will be 1,031 deaths brought forward and 1,088 respiratory hospital admissions from PM10 pollution in London in 2005.

In addition, my officers are looking into the impact of air pollution on average life expectancy in London.

Air Pollution Levels

Question No: 1550 / 2005

Mike Tuffrey

Have PM10 air concentrations breached the 50 micrograms per cubic metre at any of London's monitoring stations in the past month? If so, which ones and how many?

As you are aware, several monitoring stations in London have measured 24-hour average concentrations of particulate matter PM10 higher than 50 mg m-3 within the last month. The EU short term limit value for PM10 (50 mg m-3 as a 24-hour average concentration) can be exceeded up to 35 times a year, before the directive is breached.

Some of London's monitoring sites are used for Local Air Quality Management and are not relevant to the EU directive (as they are not part of the Government's submission to the EU and may not meet the legal requirements for inclusion, such as siting criteria). So far, Marylebone Road is the only EU-compliance site which has breached the EU Directive.

Details of sites, and their associated pollution levels, can be found on the London Air Quality Network website www.londonair.org.uk.