Air pollution in England and Wales has fallen, but the poorest neighbourhoods are still exposed to the most extreme levels of toxins, new analysis has found.<\/p>\n
Experts have called this a \u201cgrave environmental injustice\u201d as the inequality around who is exposed to air pollution has dramatically grown in the last decade.<\/p>\n
Over the last decade, air pollution has fallen by a third, and the number of neighbourhoods that have the worst air quality \u2013 with double the levels of either nitrogen dioxide or fine particular matter (PM2.5) recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) \u2013 has fallen by 93%.<\/p>\n
However, new analysis by Friends of the Earth<\/a> has found people of colour, those on low incomes and non-drivers are now disproportionately overrepresented in the 5% of neighbourhoods still exposed to the most extreme air pollution. These neighbourhoods tend to be in low-income areas of urban centres such as London or Manchester.<\/p>\n Long term exposure to toxic air pollution can cause myriad health conditions including asthma, lung disease, heart disease, cancer and strokes.<\/p>\n At the start of the decade, 30% of those in air pollution hotspots were on low incomes, 20% were people of colour and 22% didn\u2019t own a car. Now, half the population are people of colour, 48% are on the lowest incomes, and 60% don\u2019t drive. They are also home to roughly 600,000 children, of which two-thirds are under 12. There are 1,234 schools in these neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n Those areas with air quality better than WHO guidelines have populations where only 3% are people of colour and 16% are income deprived.<\/p>\n