Several air contaminants have been identified as having detrimental effects on human health and the environment.
These pollutants are mostly the result of combustion from space heating, power generating, or motor vehicle traffic in most parts of Europe.
How Air Quality Improvement Affects Health
Pollutants from these sources can cause problems in the near vicinity and over great distances.
Moderate levels of air pollution are unlikely to have any major short-term impacts if you are young and in excellent health.
However, high amounts of air pollution and long-term exposure can cause more significant symptoms and illnesses that impair human health. This impacts the respiratory and inflammatory response systems, but it can also lead to more serious illnesses, including heart disease and cancer.
People with lung or heart disorders may be particularly exposed to air pollution.
Air pollution’s health impacts have been widely publicised, and the government now recognises it as the second-largest health threat after smoking. It is predicted to cost the UK £20 billion a year, more than twice the amount estimated for obesity.
Doctors have identified air pollution as one of the top ten killers globally, with 29,000 premature deaths in the UK each year and 430,000 worldwide.
Due to increased levels of pollutant nitrogen dioxide (NO2), South Oxfordshire District Council has declared air quality management areas. Even though there are many potential sources of nitrogen dioxide in metropolitan areas, such as industrial operations, road traffic emissions have been identified as the predominant source in South Oxfordshire.
Although a minor amount of nitrogen dioxide is immediately emitted from the exhaust, most of it is emitted as nitrogen oxide (NO) and then transformed into nitrogen dioxide via chemical processes. As a result, it is critical to focus on total nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions when attempting to lower nitrogen dioxide levels.
