You often might not be able to see or smell air pollution, but it would be difficult for you not to have seen it in the news recently. Air pollution has been linked to illness and premature death. A recent report examining the impact of exposure to air pollution across the course of a lifetime estimated that in the UK, the air pollution we breathe causes an estimated 40,000 early deaths per year. The impacts of polluted air are worse for the most vulnerable people. Air pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM), have been found to damage lung development in children and worsen existing respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, particularly in older people. Furthermore, air pollution disproportionately affects the poorest in society who tend to live in areas near main roads with higher levels of air pollution. Continue reading “King’s and the London Air Quality Network tackling air pollution”