Call for Evidence
Outdoor and indoor air quality targets
The Environmental Audit Committee is undertaking a short inquiry to establish the adequacy of current measures to promote indoor and outdoor air quality. It is seeking written evidence to inform its inquiry and will hold a limited number of oral evidence sessions to form an initial view of the issues.
Background
In the UK, poor air quality continues to cause damage to people’s health and the natural environment: a Public Health England review in 2019 described air pollution as the largest environmental risk to the public’s health, citing strong evidence for associations between air pollution and cardiovascular and respiratory disease and emerging evidence of other possible health effects such as dementia, low birth weight and diabetes.[1]
A recent review revealed that air quality has adverse health impacts throughout life, and affects the brain, with links to mental illness and dementia.[2] The Chief Medical Officer’s December 2022 report on air pollution was clear that “we can and should go further to reduce air pollution”. Organisations such as UK100 and the Association of Directors of Public Health have called for better coordination between national and local actors on efforts to improve air quality.[3][4]
Air pollution is unevenly distributed across the UK: a recent National Audit Office study found that urban areas and low-income and ethnically diverse neighbourhoods were particularly exposed to poor air quality.[5] Poor air quality is also a major driver of biodiversity decline in the UK: critical levels of ammonia are being exceeded in 93.5% of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in England.[6]
Government performance on targets for air pollution
The UK has legal air quality limits for major pollutants at a national and local level, including ammonia, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds and sulphur dioxide.[7]
In 2023, using powers in the Environment Act 2021, the Government set two new targets for fine particulate matter, the air pollutant generally considered to be of greatest harm to human health: an annual mean concentration target for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in England of 10 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m³) by 2040, and a population exposure reduction target in for PM2.5 (population exposure of 35% compared to 2018, to be achieved by 2040).[8]
These targets are less ambitious than the latest public health guidance from the World Health Organisation (WHO) which revised its air quality guidelines in 2021, and now recommends a limit for fine particulate matter of 5 µg/m³, half the level set by the Government. The Royal College of Physicians has called for the Government to strengthen targets, by reducing the target for annual mean concentration of PM2.5 to 5 µg/m³ and bringing forward the deadline for meeting concentration and exposure targets to 2030, rather than 2040.[9] The Government’s current targets for other pollutants, namely coarse particulate matter (PM10), nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide, are also less ambitious than the WHO guidelines.[10][11][12]
In January 2023 the Government published the first revision of its Environmental Improvement Plan, followed in April 2023 by the new Air Quality Strategy. Together they set out the strategy for improving air quality in England. The Air Quality Strategy was criticised by some for lacking detail and providing insufficient support to local authorities. The revised UK National Air Pollution Control Programme, published in February 2023, sets out measures for meeting emission reduction commitments across the UK by 2030.
Indoor air quality
The coroner’s report on the death of Awaab Ishak, who was found to have died from a severe respiratory condition caused by prolonged exposure to mould in his home, highlighted the significant impacts of poor indoor air quality.[13] Indoor air pollution has implications for children’s respiratory health,[14] but the long-term health impacts of indoor air pollution, and concentrations of indoor pollutants are less well understood.[15][16] The issue of indoor air pollution has received less attention than air pollution outdoors.[17]
The EU directives which form the basis of the UK’s air quality regulatory framework are wholly focused on outdoor air quality and do not apply to indoor air.[18] In the course of its coronavirus and air quality inquiry, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee received evidence to suggest that existing government guidance on indoor air quality may be out of date.[19] The Air Quality Strategy addresses indoor air pollution, but the proposed Government action is limited to producing guidance on mould and damp for the housing sector.[20]
Terms of reference
The Committee welcomes written submissions which address any or all of the issues raised in the following terms of reference, to be received by 5pm on Thursday 25 May 2023:
- What evidence exists of the extent of air pollution directly or indirectly impacting health of individuals or communities in England?
- What evidence exists to demonstrate the impact of the Ultra Low Emission Zone in London, and other Clean Air Zones nationwide, on reducing public health risks or improving health outcomes within areas where they have been introduced?
- Are the current national targets for outdoor air pollution ambitious and wide-ranging enough to provide adequate protection for public health and the environment in a) rural and b) urban areas?
- Are measures currently in place, and those proposed in the revised Air Quality Strategy for England, sufficient to achieve national targets?
- What are major barriers and challenges to achieving national targets on air quality?
- Does the Government provide sufficient funding and devolved powers to local authorities in England to improve local air quality? If not, what additional funding or devolved powers are required?
- What are the long-term health impacts of indoor air pollution?
- What steps can the Government take to improve indoor air quality?
- What are the differential impacts, geographically, and across socioeconomic groups, of poor outdoor and indoor air quality? Are measures to address poor air quality appropriately targeted?
- How well is the Government spreading awareness of the impacts of poor air quality and promoting action being taken to tackle the issue?
- How well is the Government coordinating measures between national and local actors to improve air quality, both outdoors and indoors?
It is recommended that all submitters familiarise themselves with the Guidance on giving evidence to a Select Committee of the House of Commons
[1] Review of interventions to improve outdoor air quality and public health
[2] Impacts of air pollution across the life course – evidence highlight note
[3] ADPH-response-to-the-Revised-National-Air-Quality-Strategy.pdf
[4] UK100 responds to UK Government's new air quality strategy | UK100
[5] Tackling local breaches of air quality (nao.org.uk), page 18
[6] Air Quality Strategy: framework for local authority delivery
[7] The National Emission Ceilings Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/129) and the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/1001). Both sets of regulations originally derive from EU directives on air quality.
[8] The Environmental Targets (Fine Particulate Matter) (England) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/96)
[9] https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/news/rcp-calls-more-ambitious-air-quality-targets-response-defra-consultation .
[10] Air Quality Strategy: framework for local authority delivery
[11] https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/assets/documents/Air_Quality_Objectives_Update.pdf
[12] WHO global air quality guidelines: particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide
[13] Awaab Ishak: Prevention of future deaths report - Courts and Tribunals Judiciary
[14] The inside story: Health effects of indoor air quality on children and young people
[15] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00287-8
[16] postpn691 urban outdoor air quality.pdf (parliament.uk)
[17] postpn366_indoor_air_quality.pdf (parliament.uk)
[18] Directive 2008/50/EC, air quality
[19] Air Quality (parliament.uk), page 11
[20] Air Quality Strategy: framework for local authority delivery
This call for written evidence has now closed.
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