Air pollution in London

In the seventeenth century, John Evelyn published a major treatise on air pollution in London, caused by the widespread domestic use of high-sulfur coal. In it, he noted effects not only on materials ... 

Brimblecombe P. (1987) The Big Smoke A History of Air Pollution in London Since Medieval Times. Methuen, London. 

Keatinge, W.R., Donaldson, G.C., 2001. Mortality related to cold and air pollution in London after allowance for effects of associated weather patterns. Environ. Res. 86, 209 216. 

Fig. 2.59 Historical development of air pollution in London, after Lomborg (2001).

Sehwartz J, Marcus A. Mortality and air pollution in London a time series analysis. Am J Epidemiol 1990 131 185-194. 

Lippmann M, Ito K. Separating the effects of temperature and season on daily mortality from those of air pollution in London 1965-1972. Inhal Toxicol 1995 7 85-97. 

Davison, G., and Hewitt, C.N. (ed.) (1997) Air Pollution in the United Kingdom, Royal Society of Chemistry, London. Dow Chemical Company (1993) Dow s Fire and Explosion Index Hazard Classification Guide American Institute of Chemical Engineers. 

These studies dealt with the pollution of water resources. VOCs, as their name implies, contaminate the air as well. Odabasi et al. reported on aromatic hydrocarbon pollution of the air in Chicago, and compared it with air pollution in Boston, London, and Houston. 

Most of the information on the effects of air pollution on humans comes from acute pollution episodes such as the ones in Donora and London. Illnesses may result from chemical irritation of the respiratory tract, with certain sensitive subpopulations being more affected (1) very young children, whose respiratory and circulatory systems are poorly developed, (2) the elderly, whose cardiorespiratory systems function poorly, and (3) people with cardiorespiratory diseases such as asthma, emphysema, and heart disease. Heavy smokers are also affected more adversely by air pollutants. In most cases the health problems are attributed to the combined action of particulates and sulfur dioxides (SO2) no one pollutant appears to be responsible. Table 4.2 summarizes some of the major air pollutants and their sources and effects. 

Weinstein, L.H. and Alscher-Herman, R., Physiological responses of plants to fluorine, mEf-fects of Gaseous Air Pollution in Agriculture and Horticulture, Unsworth, M.H. and Ormrod, D.P., Eds., Butterworths, London, 1982, p. 139. 

Ulrich B., Pankrath J. (Eds.), Effects of accumulation of air pollutants in forest ecosystems. D. Reidel Dordrecht, Boston, London. ISBN 90-277-1476-2 389 p. (1983b). 

The Great Smog of London in 1952 was not an isolated incident. Other such reducing-type killer smogs have occurred in Meuse Valley, Belgium (1930), Donora, Pennsylvania (1948), and again in London (1962). The death toll blamed on the air pollution in these cases was not as high. 

Classical air pollution incidents in London occurred under damp and foggy conditions in the winter. Fuel use was at its highest and the air near-stagnant. The presence of smoke and fog together led to the invention of the word smog (smfoke and f]og), now often used to describe air pollution in general (Fig. 3.5). Sulphur dioxide is fairly soluble so could dissolve into the water that condensed around smoke particles. 

Hawkswoth, D. L., and Rose, F. (1970). Qualitative scale for estimating sulphur dioxide air pollution in England Wales using epiphytic lichens. Nature London) 111, 145-148. 

Three of the most acutely health-threatening episodes of air pollution in the twentieth century were associated with high-pressure areas. These notorious episodes occurred in the Meuse Valley, Belgium, December 1-5, 1930 in Donora, Pennsylvania, October 25-31, 1948 and in London, United Kingdom, December 5-9,1952. In these cases, strong atmospheric inversions associated with anticyclones helped trap pollutants such as SO2, resulting in increased air pollutant concentrations. These elevated concentrations caused elevated rates of illness and mortality (Wilson and Spengler, 1996). 

Many cross-sectional studies have found increased mortality of long-term exposure associated with air pollution. In 1964, Martin (11) reported that overall annual respiratory mortality (as opposed to episodic mortality) in the Greater London region was significantly related to smoke (particulate) levels. In 1970, Lave and Seskin (74) reported that city-specific mortality rates in the United States were positively correlated with sulfates and other measures of particulate air pollution. 

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