Most London hospitals and clinics exceed air pollution limits

More than half of London’s NHS facilities are blanketed in air pollution that is above legal limits, shows new analysis jointly published by King’s College London and the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change. Health professionals are having to care for their patients in environments where air pollution could aggravate existing illnesses. NHS staff are among those exposed to this health risk, but it is patients’ health that is of most concern, especially children’s.

Air pollutants, and in particular fine particles and nitrogen dioxide, damage our health throughout our lifetime, from before birth and well into old age. Robust scientific evidence has linked poor air quality to an increased prevalence of ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular accidents, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and lung cancer.1 Emerging evidence indicates a link between exposure to air pollution and type 2 diabetes, obesity, and dementia.2

Toxins and particulates are pumped into the air by our cars and power plants, damaging our health in the short term. In the long term the same activities produce …