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<p>Long-term exposure to air pollution reduces life expectancy by increasing deaths
from cardiovascular and respiratory conditions and from lung cancer.</p><p> </p><p>Short
term peaks in air pollution are also associated with a range of adverse health effects
including exacerbation of asthma, effects on lung function as well as increases in
daily mortality and hospital admissions (<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/comeap-quantification-of-mortality-and-hospital-admissions-associated-with-ground-level-ozone"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/comeap-quantification-of-mortality-and-hospital-admissions-associated-with-ground-level-ozone</a>).</p><p>
</p><p>Defra’s <a href="https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/air-pollution/daqi" target="_blank">Daily
Air Quality Index</a> (<a href="https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/air-pollution/daqi" target="_blank">https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/air-pollution/daqi</a>)
assists in understanding air pollution levels and suggests recommended actions and
health advice. Such advice applies to anyone experiencing symptoms.</p><p> </p><p>The
latest report from the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution (COMEAP),
an expert committee of the Department of Health and Social Care, estimated that long-term
exposure to man-made pollution in the UK has an annual effect equivalent to 28,000
to 36,000 deaths (<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nitrogen-dioxide-effects-on-mortality"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nitrogen-dioxide-effects-on-mortality</a>).
COMEAP has recently provided advice on the effects of air pollution on cardiovascular
disease (<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-pollution-and-cardiovascular-disease-mechanistic-evidence"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-pollution-and-cardiovascular-disease-mechanistic-evidence</a>)
and is currently assessing the evidence in relation to cognitive decline.</p><p> </p><p>Public
Health England (PHE) has also estimated the fraction of adult mortality attributable
to long-term exposure to particulate air pollution at local authority level (<a href="https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/public-health-outcomes-framework"
target="_blank">https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/public-health-outcomes-framework</a>).</p><p>
</p><p>PHE have undertaken research (<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-pollution-a-tool-to-estimate-healthcare-costs"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-pollution-a-tool-to-estimate-healthcare-costs</a>)
to quantify the effect of air pollution on the incidence of disease and, therefore,
the costs to health and social care services. These modelled data shows that reducing
the concentration of PM<sub>2.5</sub> by 1 µg/m<sup>3 </sup>in England in a single
year can prevent around 50,000 cases of coronary heart disease, 15,000 strokes, 9,000
cases of asthma and 4,000 lung cancers over the following 18 years.</p>
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