Pollutionwatch: April 2008

Last month’s weather was fairly average over much of the UK, and in contrast to the heatwave this time last year, there was very little in the way of air pollution. Lengthening daylight hours saw some ozone pollution, the worst on the 12th and 26th when over 20 monitoring stations recorded moderate levels. Also, between the 17th and 23rd, easterly winds brought polluted air from central Europe increasing particle concentrations, but not by enough to cause targets to be broken in many locations. The first week of April saw links made between two important conferences in the UK relating to air pollution – those of the UK Public Health Association, and Environmental Protection UK (formerly the National Society for Clean Air) The development of air pollution regulation in the UK began in the late nineteenth century closely linked with birth of the public health movement, which sought to improve water quality, housing and sanitation. By the end of the twentieth century though, air pollution control became a somewhat abstracted discipline, focussed on meeting numerical targets and sometimes failing to remember that human health was at its heart. Increasingly though, air pollution and its causes are becoming linked with other key concerns in public health – including obeisity and mental health issues such as stress and depression. As we enter the 21st Century, we are beginning to deal with the environment and human health as a complex web that will require much broader and far reaching solutions than the measures we have relied upon so far and the relinking of Public Health and Environmental Protection will play a key part in bringing this about.