Shock as air pollution hospital visits treble

THE NUMBER of people needing hospital treatment for health issues linked to air pollution has trebled during the past decade.

- By Matthew Davis

NHS figures for hospitals in England showed there were 7,244 appointments last year where medics believed poor air quality was a contributory factor to ill-health. Polluted air can aggravate pre-existing respiratory problems such as asthma.

But there is also evidence that long-term exposure can cause heart disease, strokes, lung cancer and respiratory disease.

Medics were asked to document whether there were other factors affecting patients' health, and in an increasing number of cases air pollution was logged as a contributory factor to illness.