UK air pollution killing more than 500 people a week, doctors say

Exposure to air pollution can shorten people’s lives by 1.8 years, just behind leading causes of death such as cancer and smoking. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA

Air pollution in the UK is costing more than £500m a week in ill health, NHS care and productivity losses, with 99% of the population breathing in “toxic air”, doctors have said.

Dirty air is killing more than 500 people a week, with health harm to almost every organ of the body caused by air pollution, even at low concentrations, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) said.