{"id":1354,"date":"2026-05-19T14:47:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T13:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sussex-air.net\/air-pollution\/?page_id=1354"},"modified":"2026-05-19T15:23:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T14:23:22","slug":"health-effects-of-air-pollution","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.sussex-air.net\/air-pollution\/what-is-air-pollution\/health-effects-of-air-pollution\/","title":{"rendered":"Health Effects of Air Pollution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section data-aos=\"fade-in\" class=\"hero\">\n    <div class=\"bg-img bg-cover\" style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/www.sussex-air.net\/air-pollution\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/chartAsset-1-3.svg);\"><\/div>\n    <div class=\"container\">\n        <div data-aos=\"fade-up\" class=\"content-wrap\">\n            <h1>Health Effects of<br \/>\nAir Pollution<\/h1>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n\n<section class=\"content-column\">\n    <div class=\"ov-wrap\">\n        <div data-aos=\"fade-up\" class=\"container\">\n            <div class=\"flex-wrap\">\n                <div class=\"col-2\">\n                    <div class=\"content-wrap heading-wrap\">\n                        <h2>What could be the impact of Air Pollution on people&#8217;s health<\/h2>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n                <div class=\"col-2\">\n                    <div class=\"content-wrap content-column-content\">\n                        <p>Numerous studies have shown that poor quality impacts on people\u2019s health. Those most likely to be affected are:\u200b<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Children, due to relatively higher breathing and metabolic rates as well as the immaturity of their lungs and immune system. \u200b<\/li>\n<li>The elderly, due to the decline in organ function with age and an increased prevalence of age-related disease. \u200b<\/li>\n<li>Sufferers from heart and lung diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD] and asthma, as air pollution may worsen their symptoms on days with poor air quality.\u200b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Short term\u00a0exposure to air pollution tends to affect people with existing heart and lung conditions.\u200b<\/p>\n<p>Long term\u00a0exposure to air pollution takes an average of six months off your life, even if you do not experience effects at the time of exposure.\u200b\u200b<\/p>\n<p>Those not sensitive to air pollution may not notice higher pollution days, but are still at risk through the\u00a0long term health effects\u00a0of air pollution.<\/p>\n<p>For more information on the potential health effects of air pollution:\u200b<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.who.int\/mediacentre\/factsheets\/fs313\/en\/\">http:\/\/www.who.int\/mediacentre\/factsheets\/fs313\/en\/\u200b<\/a>\u200b<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cold Alert \u2013\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/collections\/cold-weather-plan-for-england\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Cold Weather plan<\/a>\u200b<\/li>\n<li>Heat Alert \u2013\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/heatwave-plan-for-england\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Heatwave plan<\/a>\u200b<\/li>\n<li>Health Effects \u2013\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/health-matters-air-pollution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Health Matters: air pollution<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n                    <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"content-column\">\n    <div class=\"ov-wrap\">\n        <div data-aos=\"fade-up\" class=\"container\">\n            <div class=\"flex-wrap\">\n                <div class=\"col-2\">\n                    <div class=\"content-wrap heading-wrap\">\n                        <h2>Reducing your Personal exposure to Air Pollution<\/h2>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n                <div class=\"col-2\">\n                    <div class=\"content-wrap content-column-content\">\n                        <p>The air pollution that you experience during normal daily activities is called your personal exposure. Your exposure will depend on the levels of pollutants present in all the places you visit (or move through) and the time you spend in each place. Typically, these places would include your home, your daily travel and anywhere you spend time for work, study and leisure.<\/p>\n<p>Your exposure is affected by how close you are to the source of the pollution; there are higher levels of air pollution the closer you are to the source, for example, vehicle exhausts. Babies in prams and young children may breathe up to 60% more polluted air than adults during the school run because their breathing zones are lower and, therefore, closer to vehicle exhausts. Where possible, try to keep away from the edge of the road when walking to reduce exposure. Transport is a major source of pollution with cars and taxis alone producing over 55% of all road transport greenhouse gas emissions. Changing how we travel can reduce how much pollution we create and how much pollution we are exposed to.<\/p>\n                    <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"content-column\">\n    <div class=\"ov-wrap\">\n        <div data-aos=\"fade-up\" class=\"container\">\n            <div class=\"flex-wrap\">\n                <div class=\"col-2\">\n                    <div class=\"content-wrap heading-wrap\">\n                        <h2>BE ACTIVE \u2013 helps reduce pollution, CO2 and helps the planet<\/h2>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n                <div class=\"col-2\">\n                    <div class=\"content-wrap content-column-content\">\n                        <p>Swapping the car for walking, cycling or e-biking, even just for one day a week, makes a significant impact on personal emissions in cities. Research finds that shifting to active transport can cut a quarter of personal carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2<\/sub>) emissions from transport.\u00a0 When you can, avoid walking along the busiest roads, choose ways to get to your destination that use quieter streets, trips through parks and other green spaces or pedestrianised areas. Air pollution concentrates around the busiest roads, and getting even a short distance away from them can make a big difference. Quieter roads have been shown to reduce your exposure to pollution by 20%.<\/p>\n<h3>Healthy Individuals<\/h3>\n<p>Are unlikely to notice or suffer from any serious or lasting ill effects from levels of pollution that are commonly experienced in the UK, even when levels are described as \u201chigh\u201d or \u201cvery high\u201d according to the current criteria.<\/p>\n<h3>People with lung disorders and others sensitive to air pollution<\/h3>\n<p>If you have asthma or another lung disease, your symptoms are unlikely to change when air pollution levels are 1 \u2013 3 (low) or 4 \u2013 6 (moderate). This applies whatever the time of year. However, your symptoms may get worse when air pollution reaches the 7 \u2013 9 (high) or 10 (very high) bands, especially if you are elderly. People with diseases of the airways (such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease [COPD] and asthma) should take similar steps to prevent or reverse the effects of air pollutants as they would with other triggers of asthma, such as cold air, exercise, and exposure to allergens such as pollen. If these steps don\u2019t help, consult your doctor.<\/p>\n<h3>People with heart disease<\/h3>\n<p>If you suffer from a heart condition and you notice a change in your symptoms, get medical advice as you normally would. Do not try to change your treatment yourself.<\/p>\n<p><em>Health advice is based on the UK Air Quality Banding system approved by the Committee on Medical Effects of Air Pollution Episodes (COMEAP). The system uses an index divided into four bands to provide more detail about air pollution levels in a simple way, similar to the sun index or pollen index.<\/em><\/p>\n                    <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":8,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1354","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Health Effects of Air Pollution - Sussex Air<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sussex-air.net\/air-pollution\/what-is-air-pollution\/health-effects-of-air-pollution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Health Effects of Air Pollution - 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