{"id":38329,"date":"2017-02-03T12:17:19","date_gmt":"2017-02-03T11:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=38329"},"modified":"2017-09-11T09:23:57","modified_gmt":"2017-09-11T08:23:57","slug":"nick-hopkinson-bad-air-poor-memory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2017\/02\/03\/nick-hopkinson-bad-air-poor-memory\/","title":{"rendered":"Nick Hopkinson: Bad air, poor memory"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"nick_hopkinson\"One explanation that has been offered for the UK\u2019s self-destructive decision to leave the European Union is that there are now few people left alive who can remember the ruined Europe after the Second World War. Last year saw the 60th<\/sup> anniversary of the Clean Air Act, but it seems that the great smogs<\/a> and the death toll they brought has also faded from memory. How else to explain the extraordinary observation that a substantial proportion of the air pollution responsible for the \u201cvery high<\/a>\u201d air quality alert being issued for London last week was due to particulates from wood-burning stoves<\/a>? Wood smoke is a major source of harmful PM2.5<\/sub>. DEFRA figures<\/a> show that domestic wood burning is, at 47 kilotonnes\/year, the UK\u2019s largest single source of PM2.5 <\/sub>emissions\u2014nearly 3 times greater than all PM2.5 <\/sub>emissions from traffic.<\/p>\n

The Danish concept of Hygge<\/a>, \u201ccreating cosy and convivial atmospheres that promote wellbeing,\u201d is fashionable at the moment, especially among people selling candles and small books<\/a> on how to live. Fire lighting is a key part of this, but the harms<\/em><\/a> to wellbeing this causes are perhaps under-appreciated. In addition to the impact wood smoke has on stove users\u2019 own indoor air quality, it contributes to the outdoor air quality crisis. Like London, Denmark\u2019s capital Copenhagen has a significant wood smoke particulates problem\u2014winter PM2.5 <\/sub> emissions from wood smoke exceed those from the whole year\u2019s traffic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Air pollution has direct effects on the development of lung disease and increases exacerbations in those who have lung disease already. Like smoking, it also increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Poor air quality is the third leading cause of death worldwide and contributes to 40,000 deaths\/year<\/a> in the UK and 9,500 deaths\/year in London. We need to strengthen enforcement of air quality laws<\/a> and a new, stronger Clean Air Act\u2014<\/a>although many users will have bought wood-burning stoves in good faith, in the mistaken belief that they are a \u201ccarbon neutral\u201d energy source, wood burning stoves surely have no place in an urban environment or in a context where urgent action<\/a> is needed to combat climate change.<\/p>\n

And Brexit? A warning this week\u00a0from the United Nations Special Rapporteur<\/a> on human rights and hazardous substances and wastes: \u201cEU regulations have strengthened human rights protections from various sources of pollution and contamination in the UK\u2026\u2026\u2026 Politicians in the UK and US have pushed in recent years for deregulation of businesses, and mutual recognition of standards across the Atlantic, without due consideration of the role such regulation plays for the protection of human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicholas S Hopkinson<\/strong> is a reader in Respiratory Medicine, Imperial College London.<\/em><\/p>\n

Competing interests<\/strong>: None declared.<\/em><\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n