Professor Duncan Laxen and Dr Clare Beattie of Air Quality Consultants Ltd have completed a study for Bristol City Council, which calculates the additional deaths, hospital admissions and the economic costs of air pollution in Bristol. This work will inform the forthcoming Mayor’s Air Quality Strategy.
The study recognises that air pollution affects everyone living and working in Bristol. Exposure to air pollutants contributes to deaths and to additional hospital admissions. These health impacts have a significant economic cost associated with them.
The study has calculated that 188 deaths of Bristol residents (over the age of 30) can be attributed to air pollution in 2010, with a proportion (24 deaths) attributed to pollution from local road transport emissions in Bristol. These deaths attributed to air pollution compare, on average, to 9 people killed in road traffic collisions in Bristol each year.
In addition to deaths, 52 additional hospital admissions for breathing difficulties and 42 for heart problems can be attributed to air pollution in 2010.
The costs, of the health effects of exposure to small airborne particles are estimated at around £83 million per year. This reflects the costs to the health services, and to society through loss of individuals’ wellbeing.
Dr Clare Beattie presented the findings of the study at the Annual Review meeting: Indoor and Outdoor Air Pollution Research in May 2014 (view here)
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