Air pollution and people with heart and lung conditions

To understand exposure we need to understand where people spend their time and how polluted those environments are. While more work is needed, these dots mark places where people with heart and lung conditions spend some of their time: our local hospitals.

The entire footprint of our boroughs is above the guidelines set by WHO for air pollutants PM2.5 and PM10. Half of our local hospitals (5 out of 10) are in areas with PM2.5 levels that are 50% higher than the WHO guidelines recommend.

• People with asthma are more sensitive to inhaled irritants including air pollution. Spikes of NO₂have been associated with short-term increases in hospital admissions for asthma.
• People with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) have a diminished capacity to clear their lungs and as a result, can incur a higher than normal dose of air pollution. Short-term spikes in PM2.5 and NO₂ have also been associated with COPD-related hospital admissions.
• Long-term exposure can lead to the onset of heart and lung disease in healthy adults and has been linked to the exacerbation of lung and heart conditions, including heart attacks and hypertension.

Greater sense that air quality has dropped

When we asked our focus groups about the challenges of living in Southwark and Lambeth those with health conditions, or caring for someone with a health condition, were more likely to say the air quality has got worse.

Concern about air quality in Lambeth and Southwark also rises if individuals are aware of the problem or directly affected by it. The patient focus group, for example, ranked the importance of air pollution as a local issue higher than older people, families and businesses. For these latter focus groups, the most important issues are safety (young families and older people) and the cost of rent (businesses).

Stronger connection between pollution and health

The patient focus group felt the connection between air pollution and their health most strongly. This group were well informed about air pollution as many had been diagnosed with conditions associated with air pollution and had been informed by a health professional that air pollution could be contributing to their condition.

Take active steps to protect health

The patient group were also the exception to a general lack of awareness of how to protect yourself from air pollution; some are consciously taking steps to protect their health.

However, there were still misunderstandings common amongst the general public about what is effective: one participant mentioned buying a face mask to reduce their exposure.

Differing attitudes for different health conditions

People with lung conditions think air pollution is more important to their health than people with heart conditions. This suggests that people with lung conditions are more aware of the impact air pollution has on them.

The majority of people in Lambeth and Southwark understand that the main source of air pollution is traffic and, when asked for detail, were able to identify specific sources. However, in the focus groups, air pollution was often discussed in the same breath as other environmental issues, such as recycling and air miles. The exception was the patient focus group, for example the following comment about delivery vans.

Both the patient and family focus groups suggested lowering the cost of public transport would help alleviate the problem of air pollution. The focus group of people with health conditions (all aged 65+) also mentioned the importance of the Freedom Pass for public transport.