Air pollution could shorten a person鈥檚 life by up to seven months, a study on one of the largest UK cities has suggested.
A person born in Birmingham in 2011 may die between two to seven months early if exposed over their lifetime to projected future pollution concentrations, Kings College London researchers have found.
The study looked at the combined impact of two pollutants: particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide 鈥� two of the leading causes of poor health from air pollution. It examined the link between these and loss of life-expectancy, but didn鈥檛 study non-fatal health conditions such as asthma.
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The team found that the pollutants appear to be having more of a health impact in some UK cities than others.
鈥淭his report should be a wake-up call to policymakers not just in Birmingham but across the country,鈥� says Polly Billington, of UK 100, a network of local governments that commissioned the report.
The excess mortality cost to the UK of air pollution has previously been estimated at between 拢8.5 billion and 拢20.2 billion a year.
