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THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION has named air pollution as the single biggest environmental danger to human health.
It is estimated that air pollution in Ireland currently causes 1300-1700 premature deaths annually — 10 times the number of deaths on our roads.
Ireland has not met the air quality standards for health 2022 set by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2022.
These standards cover a range of pollutants that can harm our health including fine particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ozone (O3). Fine particulate matter comprises small particles, often byproducts of combustion or burning, that are invisible to the eye but can be inhaled.
If air pollution levels are high it may cause symptoms like sore eyes, cough or sore throat in otherwise well people. Elderly people, those with asthma, or who have lung or heart disease should consider reducing their levels of physical activity on days when air pollution is highest.
Those with asthma may find themselves needing their reliever inhaler more often when the air pollution level is high. It has been implicated in higher levels of heart attack, and stroke, and there is emerging evidence that it can contribute to dementia and other cognitive diseases. High levels of air pollution can also lead to worse outcomes in pregnancy.
An Irish study completed in 2022 measured the levels of fine particulate matter air pollution at each maternity hospital site in Dublin and found that the levels were higher than the WHO’s Air Quality Guideline and may have implications for pregnant women’s health.
Air quality can vary enormously depending on the season and time of the day. On the Dublin City Council website you can check where your nearest air quality monitor is, and what its current rating level is. The air quality index ranks the current level from 1 (best) to 10 (worst) at any given time. Further data is available here for the whole country. It should be noted that there isn’t universal coverage of air quality monitors and several high traffic areas don’t have monitors in situ.
The main sources of man-made particulate matter are the burning of solid fuels and transport emissions. There has recently been a push to reduce the burning of solid fuels in Ireland. However, for a significant minority, solid fuel burning may be the only source of heat in their homes.
A large proportion of Irish housing stock is poorly insulated and prone to dampness. This presents a conundrum for policy makers. The EPA is calling for resourcing of local authorities for the enforcement of smoky coal and peat burning restrictions. However, improved supports for households looking to make the switch need to take priority. All stick and no carrot will not gain community buy-in.
For those looking to upgrade their home’s Building Energy Rating (BER) there can be significant upfront costs that generally are borne by the household in order to avail of many grants. We need to ensure that no section of society is left behind in the transition.
Petrol and diesel engines are known to be significant contributors to air pollution, particularly in more congested urban areas. Car idling is a large source of particulate matter and other harmful substances like nitrogen dioxide and black carbon.
In 2023, University College Cork became the first university in Ireland to instate a ‘No engine idling’ policy, highlighting that two minutes of idling is harder on a car’s engine than restarting and that only two minutes of idling uses the equivalent fuel of 1.6 km of driving. UCC further recommends that drivers should turn off their engines if waiting for longer than 10 seconds, except in traffic.
Improvements in active travel infrastructure and rapid expansion of the public transport network have successfully transformed cities in other European countries. Most recently, Paris moved towards an active travel focused transport policy and estimates that it will reduce air pollution by 18%, thereby avoiding 385 air quality related premature deaths per year.
A significant step was taken by the Irish government in 2023 by publishing Ireland’s first Clean Air Strategy which addresses the negative health impacts of air pollution and commits to meeting the WHO standards of clean air by 2040. It also commits the government to meeting reduction targets in 2026 and 2030.
In 2021, there was a Dublin Region Air Quality Plan published which focused on the reduction of harmful Nitrogen Dioxide levels in the Dublin area. Unfortunately, this plan has yet to be fully implemented according to the latest updates from the EPA website.
It is important that rapid progress is made in improving air quality in order to reduce Ireland’s significant level of premature deaths.
Dr Lisa McNamee is a medical doctor and the national primary care sustainability lead for Irish Doctors for the Environment.
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Nonsense comparison..big difference is the healthiest die in road accidents..serious underlying health issues are affected by air quality..
More people die in wars than road accidents, why don’t we just ban wars………
@hi from heaven: Still I think it was like 2010 when they completed the inner city study of Londons air quality and it’s residence, they found that children who grew up in the inner city had 50% less lung capacity than those outside. Mad figures.
A load of nonsense, go back to the days of smog and diesel cars,trucks and buses belching out black smoke, you could smell the fumes from petrol cars stopped at the traffic lights in front of you, memories come flooding back with the smell of fumes from a classic car stopped at the lights Infront of you, but now you can stop outside air coming into the car with recirculating air from the Aircon. Even planes taking off from the airport you could see the black exhaust smoke, not anymore. They are even at it with road deaths we have come from 700 or so road deaths in the 60s and 70s to 120 or so, and they report that its Armageddon out there.
@brendan C5: On road deaths, 184 is a hell of a long way from 120. Road deaths up by 30% in the last three years. You can’t compare 60′s and 70′s to today due to vast difference in roads infrastructure, traffic volumes and car designs. What you can compare today to is recent time. Road deaths have reversed over the last two years, with the reduction of the last decade seemingly wiped out in a 2 year period.
@brendan C5: Thats a ‘double Irish’ response for sure, lol
I used the blue ventolin inhaler most of my life because of asthma up to 15 times a day then used steroid inhalers .
Today I need neither once I switched to the Carnivore diet which naturally got rid of the inflammation and that ended the asthma along with many other health improvements.
@peter kellegher: Yes, I too have benefited from a mostly red meat diet. The scaremongering that went on for years turned out to be a load of aul codswallop.
Aren’t we lucky to have a healthy environment as we have. This relentless aspiration for the purest of air is unattainable. It’s like banning all music except classical.. Despite the demise of the churches we still have plenty of preachers.
@JP: 100% correct.
It would be much different here also had Ireland heavy manufacturing, producing end products or components of so-called green living which are overpriced and constantly shoved down our throats.
We use end products whose manufacturing is based in other countries, whose air quality suffers and whose people pay the price so we can get on a higher moral horse and of course have to guilt trip and punish those outside the cities who – while burning solid fuels – enjoy better air quality.
It’s a pity only one side of any argument is presented in reporting. For example, while it is widely reported how China and India build more coal power stations, it is not reported that these countries also top the lists of most newly planted trees.
Air tax incoming…
I too would like to add a comment where I ignore the science,say that I’ve sucked fumes from an exhaust pipe for many years with no health, suggest that those who do get breathing difficulties are weaker than me and that the convenience of using fossil fuels outweighs the health of others. The very experienced and qualified person who wrote this article knows nothing because I have a personal story or belief that means that any scientific analysis is wrong. I feel good now that I have educated those who trust science
@JC O’Connachain: Yes, just like Donald Rumsfeld during the Gulf War, who had “alternative facts”, there are those who trust alternative science. Yes, yes, I mean it; I’m not being sarcastic.
What% of these deaths are smokers obese, covid and flu. All increases your risk of dieing from pneumonia.
forcing people into cities and high rise buildings when we could impelement things like wfh could help reduce air pollution and people could have a more balanced/healthy life…..but capitalism needs feeding sure
Let me get a deal on a newer, less emitting car from a marketplace thats 25% cheaper and right next door?… No? oh well.
What about Vaccine deaths?
Read the covid 19 saftey data from pfizer if you consider “anti-vaxers” a tad delusional.
@kor kor: is it online
@kor kor: send the link, and fact check it for us.
Most rural towns and villages here (with no gas lines) still burn coal etc, making the air quality toxic at night for half of the year, while in larger citys the main issue is traffic fumes
I cannot find a coherent definition of ” premature death” when it comes to age.
There seem to be different interpretations, e.g. WHO – 50 years, in an OECD report PYLL/ potential years of life lost quotes 70 years, other sources operate on a basis of a lifespan of 75 years.
I am no statistician but my understanding is as follows.
Where the actual life expectancy rises, logic dictates that “premature death” age must adjust.
Let’s say for arguments sake in 2000 global life expectancy was 75.
So premature deaths would be up to age 74.
And if in 2023 more people live longer let’s say to global average age 78, then premature death would be up to age 77.
Question
Are there different ages tied to premature death based on cause of death?
when cabbage head has everyone on bicycles we,ll all love forever….as daft as this article
just let one off sniff that
have your say