United Kingdom: Air pollution in London worst in six years

Air pollution in London was the worst air pollution in six years. The level of air pollution increased amid a rise in home fires burning. More particle pollution is produced by wood fires as compared to traffic exhausts in the United Kingdom.

Local media reports have mentioned London has been grappling with issues of air pollution, with the city's mayor even issuing a high air pollution alert across the capital a couple of days before.

In the previous week, the quality of air in London deteriorated and the capital city experienced moderate air pollution with the continuing cold. Foggy conditions made the air quality worsened in poor dispersion of vehicle emissions.

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The Guardian reported that concentrations of air pollution were measured in the southwestern suburbs. As per the report, it was London's worst air pollution since January 2017.

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Referring to a five-year study of 1.2 million Londoners published in 2021, the media outlet stated that the report found a rise in GP respiratory consultations and inhaler prescriptions after short increases in air pollution.

According to data published by Imperial College London, the burning of home wood played a massive role in the pollution peaks last weekend. Between 60 per cent and 70 per cent of soot particles were released from wood or solid fuel heating, an analysis of air that the residents breathing showed.

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Dr James Heydon, who is from the University of Nottingham, has been researching why the legal framework to address the issue related to home fires has failed so far.

For the research, Heyden included freedom of information requests to local councils and also interviewed council staff. As quoted by the report, Heydon said: "There are myriad of practical difficulties, including responding to complaints out of hours, being able to see 'smoke' at night, and gathering enough evidence to determine its origin from an 'uncertified' source. These problems are compounded by recent efforts at making enforcement easier."

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