Air pollution can cause miscarriages, low sperm count and stunt children’s lung growth, a new report has found.
Experts at Imperial College London were commissioned by the Greater London Authority to probe the impact of poor air quality on people throughout life.
The work follows a major assessment which found 2,600 premature deaths on the island of Ireland can be attributed to air pollution annually.
Imperial College’s independent analysis of over 35,000 studies found toxins in the air harm people at every stage of life, including in the womb.
Read more: Private jet use soaring in Ireland, new research shows
From birth through to adolescence, it can impact lung growth, brain development, blood pressure, asthma and even mental health and illness according to the experts.
While in adults, effects include early death, cardiac and respiratory diseases, stroke, cancer and multiple other chronic illnesses.
The report reads: “Each breath we take contains a complex mixture of pollutants.
“It can therefore be difficult to separate out the individual impacts of these multiple components.
“However, it is clear that a substantial part of the health burden from air pollution comes from small respirable particles, most especially those referred to as PM2.5, and also from the gas, nitrogen dioxide.”
PM2.5s are tiny pollution particles created by burning gas, oil, diesel, wood and other fuels like peat.
Nitrogen dioxide comes from the combustion of these same fuels, especially exhaust fumes from cars.
March’s Air Pollution and Mortality Report for the island of Ireland found the biggest risk to life from air pollution is heart disease.
It was commissioned by the British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland and Irish Heart Foundation and carried out by experts from Queen’s University Belfast and Technological University Dublin.
They called on governments north and south of the border to adopt World Health Organization air quality targets, which neither jurisdiction has adopted.
WHO recommends air quality guideline levels for particulate matter (PM2.5) of 5 micrograms per cubic metre but the report found many living on the island of Ireland are exposed to air pollution “well in excess” of this level.
Ireland’s Environment, Climate, and Communications Minister, Eamon Ryan, said at the time: “There are no safe levels of air pollution, and taking into account all its negative effects, the onus is on us to move towards the new WHO guidelines.
“I am committed to finding the most appropriate policy pathways towards achieving this, with the ultimate aim of providing cleaner air for all.”
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