James Backhouse Director Air Pollution James Backhouse Director

Air pollution – legal perspective What is Air Pollution? the presence in or introduction into the air of a substance which has harmful or poisonous effects What are the study's? Historical air pollution exposure and long-term mortality risks in England and Wales: p What do these say? Road traffic gives rise to noise & air pollution, both of which are associated with adverse health effects Historic air pollution exposure has long-term effects on mortality that persist over 30 years after exposure and these potentially also influence current estimates of associations between air pollution and mortality More recent improvements in air quality may not yet impact the data accurately because of the long term effect of exposure

Air Pollution What causes air pollution? directly through use of electricity, fuels, and transportation including dust from brakes and tyres and other parts which break down in normal use. petrol and diesel-engine motor vehicles emit a wide variety of pollutants, principally carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter (≤10 µm), which have an increasing impact on lungs What are the current mitigating factors? Congestion Charging Zone (Feb 2003) – financial incentives have double edge since government gets used to the income! Low Emission Zone (2008) 20 MPH speed limit zones New cleaner transport methods and engines We have yet to see the full impact of these recent changes filter into the data – as the issue is very long term harm

Legal issues Public Law Private Law ECHR EU regulation/directive JR Client Earth Legal firm Private Law Tort timeline comparator Asbestosis Employment/worker rights Breach of Statutory Duty

Right to claim In short (this is vey simplified and not to be taken as legal advice) Establish a duty of care by a specific person to the claimant (statutory or common law (eg negligence) Establish a breach of the duty – not a strict test but fail to take reasonable steps Establish this caused the injury/harm – this is challenging in a specific case since there will be mulitiple factors – look at tabacco. Research shows lack of healthy eating and fitness are major factors in early death from cardio-vascular conditions.

Transport Challenge Potential Solutions Light Rail Public Transport i.e. more people on one polluting vehicle! Filtration of office and factory home working Cleaner exhaust and hybrid Important to recognise the need for balance of a number of solutions and comparative cost effectiveness of any particular solution Government will issue its air quality plan in line with the High Court order – presumably after the June election.

James Backhouse Director james.backhouse@backouses.co.uk