Hundreds dying each year from air pollution
People across the Black Country and Staffordshire are suffering serious health problems as a result of air pollution, new figures reveal today.
Around 1,000 people who died in 2017 were found to have suffered from long-term exposure to air pollution, which can trigger chronic diseases such as asthma, heart disease or bronchitis, and cause other respiratory problems.
Around one in 20 deaths in the region are linked to air pollution, according to the latest figures, with the Local Government Association warning the issue is a "public health emergency".
The figures, provided by Public Health England, measure deaths of those over 30 linked to PM2.5 — small particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres, about three per cent of the width of a human hair.
Road traffic and some industrial activities are major sources of PM2.5 emissions.
Five of every 100 deaths in Dudley, Staffordshire and Wolverhampton in 2017 were linked to air pollution – the same as the national average – with that figure rising to six in every 100 in Sandwell and Walsall.
It is not known exactly how many people died as a result of air pollution, but with 17,000 deaths in the region in 2017 the figure is believed to be around 1,000.
Martin Tett, the transport spokesman for the Local Government Association, said: "We need to be able to live in safe communities, which includes making sure the air we breathe is as free from pollution as possible.
"If the Government’s air quality plans and any new local powers are to be successful, they need to be underpinned by local flexibility and sufficient funding, which needs to be addressed in the Spending Review.
"Councils also need local powers, particularly with regard to traffic offences, government support on planning and transport matters, and robust national action to help the country transition to low-emission vehicles and power generation."
The number of air pollution related deaths has dropped since 2010, where some areas, such as Sandwell, were reporting seven out of 100 deaths being related to PM2.5 emissions.
Public Health England has proposed a ban on cars idling in areas like schools or hospitals to help tackle pollution.
The body's director of health protection, Professor Paul Cosford, said: "We should stop idling outside schools and we should make sure that children can walk or cycle to school.
"Transport and urban planners will need to work together with others involved in air pollution to ensure that new initiatives have a positive impact."
