EU rules on air pollution too lax, according to new study

The Independent reports on a new study published in The Lancet, which found that current air quality rules might not be enough to protect against pollution-related illnesses.

The study estimates that for every 5 micrograms per cubic metre increase in annual exposure to fine-particle pollution, the risk of dying from natural causes rises by 7 per cent.

In October the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a World Health Organisation body, classified outdoor pollution as a carcinogen.

In 2009 we published a report, Crime is in the air, by Professor Reece Walters. It highlighted the estimated 24,000 British residents who die prematurely every year because of air pollution

Related items

Air pollution causes cancer (October 18, 2013)
Pollution link to low birth rate (October 15, 2013)
Crime is in the air: air pollution and regulation in the UK (September 1, 2009)