Air pollution, deprivation and health: Understanding relationships to add value to local air quality management policy and practice in Wales, UK

© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. Background Air pollution exposure reduces life expectancy. Air pollution, deprivation and poor-health status combinations can create increased and disproportionate disease burdens. Problems and solutions are rarely considered in a broad public health context, but doing so can add value to air quality management efforts by reducing air pollution risks, impacts and inequalities. Methods An ecological study assessed small-area associations between air pollution (nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter), deprivation status and health outcomes in Wales, UK. Results Air pollution concentrations were highest in 'most' deprived areas. When considered separately, deprivation-health associations were stronger than air pollution-health associations. Considered simultaneously, air pollution added to deprivation-health associations; interactions between air pollution and deprivation modified and strengthened associations with all-cause and respiratory disease mortality, especially in 'most' deprived areas where most-vulnerable people lived and where health needs were greatest. Conclusion There is a need to reduce air pollution-related risks for all. However, it is also the case that greater health gains can result from considering local air pollution problems and solutions in the context of wider health-determinants and acting on a better understanding of relationships. Informed and co-ordinated air pollution mitigation and public health action in high deprivation and pollution areas can reduce risks and inequalities. To achieve this, greater public health integration and collaboration in local air quality management policy and practice is needed

Progress with air quality management in the 60 years since the UK clean air act, 1956. Lessons, failures, challenges and opportunities

© 2016 WIT Press, www.witpress.com. This paper explores the challenges, opportunities and progress made with managing air quality since the United Kingdom parliament passed the Clean Air Act, 1956. It seeks to identify the factors contributing to successful management of air quality and the factors that have acted, or continue to do so, as barriers to progress. The public health catastrophe of the 1952 London Smog created the political momentum for the 1956 Act to be passed. The nature of the contemporary air pollution challenge is reviewed in terms of the public health burden, the economic cost and the governmental response. The contemporary response is considered inadequate for the scale and intensity of the problem

Joint working within local government: Air quality as a case-study

Air quality management (AQM) is a process of environmental control that must be embedded within a wide range of policy areas, from local-scale initiatives to international treaties, if it is to be successful. Because of the integrative aspects of AQM, it is imperative that joint working is undertaken within local authorities and other involved parties. Environmental health departments have taken the lead role in AQM as they have traditionally had responsibilities for some other aspects of pollution control. However, AQM requires input from a variety of professionals such as transport planners, land-use planners, economic development officers and Local Agenda 21 (LA21) officers, as well as environmental health professionals. This paper examines the involvement of these professions within the AQM process. Results are presented from a widespread questionnaire survey of urban local authorities in England. In the case of air quality, it is concluded that co-operation between the necessary professions is still at an early stage. Transport planners are more fully engaged with the process than are land-use planners or economic development officers. In order that the joint working process develops appropriately, it is suggested that LA21 officers have an important role in facilitating inter-professional working to support the AQM process

A Preliminary Analysis of the Linkages between Air Quality Management and Transport Planning Policies in a Sample of English Highways Authorities

This paper considers the evolution of the local transport planning process and examines a sample of nine county-scale areas with regard to the integration of air quality issues within the transport planning process over the last 3 years. It concludes that transport planning in the UK has made some headway towards the integration of environmental considerations into the planning process, including air quality considerations. There is, however, notable diversity between highways authorities in the degree to which air quality is considered. Air quality management operates to a significantly shorter time-scale than transport planning. The differing time-scales of the two planning processes have hindered their integration as a consequence.

The employment implications of a low-carbon economy

The threat of global warming and unacceptable levels of unemployment are two items high on policy agendas in the 1990s. Increasing emphasis on 'sustainable development' ensures that debate surrounding the relationship between jobs and the environment is kept under the research microscope. In the past, the supposed incompatibility of environmental protection and employment was a fairly deep-rooted and little-contested belief. However, recent 'revisionist' thinking has spotlighted discrepancies with this traditional economic approach. Increasingly, environmental economic literature cites the relationship between the two as positive, with careful policy implementation enabling mutual reinforcement. This paper details the background to the 'jobs versus environment' debate, providing a summary of the latest literature and assessing the prospects for increased employment in a low-carbon economy. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

City-regions and the development of sustainable energy-supply systems

To achieve the CO2 reductions deemed necessary to limit the impact of adverse climate change will require real changes in the way we both use and supply energy. Although explicit international and national frameworks are necessary to facilitate reduction strategies, regional implementation and local initiatives are increasingly seen as having an important role to play, both in meeting national CO2 reduction targets and improving the local environment. This paper deals with the supply side of the energy equation for Greater Manchester in the U.K., examining the potential for 'regional' energy supply options to contribute to a reduction in carbon intensity. By assessing actual and latent regional opportunities, the potential for achieving a more sustainable energy supply system is evaluated. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd

Assessing the employment implications of a sustainable energy system: A methodological overview

The traditional economic view of environmental protection acting against the interests of employment is now challenged as outdated and false, with studies in environmental economic literature increasingly promoting the positive links between the two. An overview of the synergies thought to exist between environmental improvement and employment creation is provided. Special attention is paid to energy, a central theme of UK sustainable development strategy, due to the role of CO2 as the dominant greenhouse gas. The methodological tools available for assessing employment impacts are reviewed, the limitations of the alternative modelling choices discussed, and the 'bottom-up' analysis of energy-employment interaction is placed in a UK context. As a local focus for carbon reduction policies is increasingly promoted, the paper concludes with a discussion of the value of analysis at a regional scale

The introduction of local air quality management in the United Kingdom. A review and theoretical framework

This paper considers the value of applying an alternative pro rata methodology to the estimation of atmospheric emissions from a given regional or local area. Such investigations into less time and resource intensive means of providing estimates in comparison to traditional methods are important due to the potential role of new methods in the development of air quality management plans. A pro rata approach is used here to estimate emissions of SO2, NOx, CO, CO2, VOCs and black smoke from all sources and Pb from transportation for the North West region of England. This method has the advantage of using readily available data as well as being an easily repeatable procedure which provides a good indication of emissions to be expected from a particular geographical region. This can then provide the impetus for further emission studies and ultimately a regional/local air quality management plan. Results suggest that between 1987 and 1991 trends in the emissions of the pollutants considered have been less favourable in the North West region than in the nation as a whole. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd

The Prospects for Improved Energy Efficiency in the UK Residential Sector

The perceived threat of climate change has become an important global issue of the 1990s, with measures to limit its ramifications now commonly linked to mainstream policy agendas. Reducing carbon intensity can be achieved through both supply and end-use energy strategies, though improvements in end-use efficiency are said to offer the best opportunities both in terms of effective investment and producing results in the short to medium term. UK policy makers have stressed that energy use in the home is a pressing area to be addressed. This paper reviews the myriad of efficiency options available, assessing the effectiveness of national and supra-national strategies in encouraging technical efficiency and stimulating beneficial behaviourial changes. Findings indicate that the range of (and commitment to) current efficiency measures, reinforced by a lack of policy coherence, ensures that future prospects remain ambiguous. Initiatives, though conceived at a variety of spatial scales, tend to be implemented at a localized level and it is the actions (and interactions) of local actors that may well determine the shape and success of sustainability measures.

Local and regional air quality impacts of airport operations

This paper discusses the air quality impacts of airport operations. It considers a range of pollutants and identifies emission sources both within and surrounding airports as being important in contributing to the air quality experienced at an airport. These sources include aircraft operations, landside traffic, airside traffic and fuel-handling operations. The paper considers air quality impacts over the last 30 years and draws examples from a variety of European airports. The paper concludes with a forecast of likely changes in emission sources and strengths at airports over the next 15 years