Posted on 7-8-2002

New Targets for Cleaner Air In UK
Photo shows Environment Minister Michael Meacher

LONDON, UK, August 5, 2002 (ENS) - Tougher new targets to cut levels of
four key air pollutants in England were announced today by Environment
Minister Michael Meacher. Benzene, carbon monoxide, and particles will be
controlled to reduce adverse effects on human health. For the first time, a
target limit has been set for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

The targets were set following public consultation on proposals to update
the national Air Quality Strategy. The carbon monoxide target was cut by
roughly 10 percent, a limit which must be met by the end of next year. The
target for benzene was cut to less than one-third of the current limit, to
be achieved by the end of 2010, and the same target date was set for PAHs
and particles. Meacher said, "Air quality is getting better. Levels of most
pollutants have fallen considerably over the last few years through
measures to cut emissions from industry and traffic. But the latest health
evidence shows that we cannot afford to be complacent. "Further action is
needed to cut air pollution levels, in particular in our congested towns
and cities, which continue to have a significant impact on our health, the
minister said.

Friends of the Earth UK welcomed the new standards set by the Labour
government, but the group said they do not go far enough to protect public
health. "The new particles standard is still weaker than the one Labour
inherited in 1997. And targets have not been set for fighting summertime
smog, which is fast becoming Britain's most serious air quality problem,"
the group said.

Meacher said, "The targets we have announced today represent a significant
strengthening of our air quality targets for particles and other important
air pollutants. Our new target for particles is at least 50 percent tighter
than the current Air Quality Strategy objective.

While recgnizing that industrial emissions must be controlled, the new
targets focus on road vehicles. Cars, lorries, buses, and motorbikes are
responsible for over 50 percent of the emissions of nitrogen oxides and
over 75 percent of carbon monoxide emissions in the UK, the environment
department says. For particles, the new targets call for a 24 hour
objective of 50 microgrammes per cubic metre not to be exceeded more than
seven days a year, and an annual objective of 20 microgrammes per cubic
metre (µg/m3), both to be achieved by 2010. This replaces the current
target of a 24 hour mean of 50 µg/m3 not to be exceeded more than 35 times
a year, and an annual mean of 40 µg/m3 both to be met by end of 2004.

Harmful particles in the air come from road traffic and construction work,
suspended soils and dusts, sea salt, biological particles, and secondary
particles, mainly sulphate and nitrate formed by chemical reactions in the
atmosphere. In London, where development, industrial activity and transport
levels differ from those in the rest of England, the government is allowing
a higher level of particles in the air and 10 days when it may be exceeded
compared to seven days in the rest of the country. London's new target is a
24 hour objective of 50 µg/m3 not to be exceeded more than 10 days a year,
and an annual objective of 23 µg/m3, both to be achieved by 2010.

Friends of the Earth UK says, "Londoners should also ask why the government
allows them to suffer more air pollution than people elsewhere in Britain.
Surely they have the same right to clean air as everyone else. It's the
government's responsibility to make sure they get it." London Mayor Ken
Livingstone's plan to reduce city traffic by charging a fee for cars and a
higher fee for heavy goods vehicles entering central London was cleared
July 31 by High Court Justice Maurice Kay. Livingstone said, London is the
most congested city in the UK. Traffic speeds in central London have fallen
to just nine miles per hour with vehicles averaging 50 percent of their
time in queues. Solving this problem is my first priority as London Mayor."
The judge said that "congestion charging would not have a significant
impact on air quality issues," but the Mayor has he intends to spend the
proceeds from congestion charging on improving public transport, primarily
the bus, and on improving conditions for pedestrians and cyclists.

Friends of the Earth, too, says more action to deal with air pollution in
England's largest city. "The scale of London's air pollution problems shows
why Ken Livingstone's congestion charging scheme has to be accompanied by
measures to cut traffic across the whole of London," the group said today.

The Environment Department said the government's intention is that the
Mayor and London authorities should work towards an annual target of 20
µg/m3 by 2015, "where cost effective and proportionate local action can be
identified. "The target for particles for London takes account of the
markedly higher levels of air pollution in the capital than elsewhere in
England," Meacher said. "But we have set separate objectives for London in
the knowledge that the challenge for London of such a target will be as
least as great as that posed by the target for the rest of the country.
"The level of reduction should be the same if not greater, and Londoners
should experience similar if not more improvements in health benefits as
the rest of the population on the basis of present policies and measures,"
the minister said. The latest advice from health experts is that long term
exposure to particles, which can emitted into the air from traffic and
industry, can cause premature deaths, particularly from heart disease, the
environment department said today. "These effects are thought to be
significantly greater than short term effects from the day to day exposure
to particles in air."

The new targets for particles comes as a response to the latest advice from
the Department of Health's Committee on the Medical Effects of Air
Pollutants (COMEAP) which suggests that people exposed to particles over
the long term are at greater risk of premature death, particularly from
heart disease, the environment department said. Particles are associated
with a range of short term health effects, including effects on the
respiratory and cardiovascular systems, asthma and death. In its 1998
report, COMEAP suggested that that in 1996 the early death of 8,100
vulnerable people and 10,500 hospital admissions in the UK were associated
with respiratory disease affected by particle air pollution. These deaths
are among people who are already very ill and are likely to be brought
forward by a few weeks. In its report published May 1, 2001, the COMEAP
pointed to emerging evidence that the chronic health effects of particle
air pollution are "substantially more significant" than the immediate
effects. On the basis of studies carried out in the United States, COMEAP
estimates that for each one µg/m3 drop in concentrations of particle air
pollution, a person would gain 1.5 to 3.5 days of life, on average. Some
people would not gain anything, COMEAP says, while those affected would
gain more than the average figure of a few days.

The government has already set in place a range of measures that will help
to reduce emissions of particles. Government's Ten Year 2010 Transport
Plan, July 2000, sets out a program of increased investment of £180 billion
through 2010, to improve public transport, cut congestion and reduce
pollution. Tighter European vehicle emission and fuel standards already in
place and coming over the next few years will reduce emissions of particles
and other air pollutants.

The new Integrated Pollution and Prevention Control authorization regime
for industrial processes is expected to contribute to the downward trend in
particle air pollution across Europe. Emissions from mainland Europe drift
across the English Channel to contaminate the air in England, according to
the environment department, contributing up to 20 percent of primary
particles in the UK. This amount may be much larger during short term peak
episodes. Emissions of secondary particles from mainland Europe are a more
serious problemmaking up about half of all secondary particles, in a year
with typical meteorology, officials said. In years when easterly winds are
more frequent, emissions from mainland Europe account for "a much higher
proportion" in south and east England.

The new air quality targets are to be kept under review on a pollutant by
pollutant basis to take account of scientific and technical developments
and developments in European legislation in order to consider the prospects
for strengthening the targets.