News analysis with BESA
Schools and hospitals in air pollution frontline
Growing alarm about the long-term harm caused by indoor air pollution to school children and hospital patients was a major talking point during last month’s national Clean Air Day 2023 (CAD)
E
xperts taking part in an event hosted by the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) to mark the day called for the
government to be more ambitious with policy decisions and set tougher targets for minimising indoor particulate pollution to protect the most vulnerable. They pointed out that more studies had highlighted health problems linked to ultra-fi ne particulate matter since 2022’s CAD #CleanAirDay, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) had identifi ed air pollution as the biggest environmental risk to health – blaming it for around one in every nine deaths annually. In an earlier BESA webinar, the Minister in charge of the government’s ambitious £20bn New Hospital Programme (Hospital 2.0) said improving indoor air quality (IAQ) across the NHS was crucial. Lord Markham CBE said better ventilation would not just help to reduce the risk of infections spreading, but could also shorten patient recovery periods and so help the NHS reduce its waiting lists. Members of BESA’s Indoor Air Quality group urged
the government to take this kind of public health message on board and refl ect it in broader policy decisions. “Although air quality has gradually improved in
recent times, air pollutant concentrations still exceed the 2005 WHO air quality guideline levels in many areas,” said Stuart Smith, commercial director of Zehnder Group UK. “This means they are above the levels associated with serious risks to public health.”
Frightening
He said the building services industry was primarily focused on addressing levels of PM 10 and PM 2.5, but the picture created by measuring ultra-fi ne particulate matter, down to PM1, was “more frightening” as these tiny particles can enter the blood stream and reach the brain. They also have a larger surface area in proportion to their size so can carry signifi cant amounts of contaminants including plastic and tiny metal fragments into the body. “We need to make more eff ort to understand the
levels of ultra-fi ne particles in our air,” added Smith. “Unlike PM2.5, PM1 is unregulated and monitoring
technology is limited. We also need more research into the specifi c harm caused by PM1.” A survey for CAD carried out by Zehnder found that 83% of people wanted to know more about the air quality inside their homes, but while a sixth said they worried about outdoor pollution just one in ten had the same level of concern about the indoor threat. Adam Taylor, vice chair of the BESA group, urged the
government to mount a public awareness campaign similar to those that featured celebrities highlighting the risks posed by car crashes and household fi res, which account for fewer deaths than pollution. “The annual mortality of human-made air pollution in the UK is roughly equivalent to between 28,000 and 36,000 deaths every year,” he said. “Globally, household air pollution was responsible for an estimated 3.2 million deaths per year in 2020.” Taylor said lack of public awareness was at least
partially due to the way that IAQ information is presented. “We gather lots of data but that has to be translated into actionable insights.” This year’s CAD theme was ‘Clean up our air to look
after your mind’ and encouraged people to consider the impact of poor air quality on mental health just as much as physical well-being. The programme of
“The annual mortality of human-made air pollution in the UK is roughly equivalent to between 28,000 and 36,000 deaths every year,”
events promoted emerging scientifi c evidence about pollution’s links to depression, anxiety, and dementia. BESA’s Indoor Air Quality group has produced a series of guides and has been promoting the concept of the building as a ‘Safe Haven’ from polluted outside air for several years. The pandemic shone a spotlight on the role of ventilation in making indoor spaces safer and healthier and England’s chief medical offi cer Professor Chris Whitty subsequently called for IAQ monitoring to become “standard practice”. Dan Fraser from ventilation manufacturer Nuaire highlighted the specifi c problem in schools pointing out that in London alone, over 400 primary schools were in areas that breached WHO guidelines for air pollution (GLA 2018) and that young children were particularly vulnerable. “Their exposure to high levels of air pollution can lead to behavioural problems, asthma, bronchitis
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July 2023
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