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Forty years ago, smoke and sulphur dioxide pollution from domestic coal burning caused an air pollution episode that led to the premature deaths of 4,000 Londoners. These so-called smogs have been all but eliminated by a combination of measures of which the most important were the Clean Air Acts of 1956 and 1968, the move away from domestic coal burning for home heating and the centralisation of electricity generation in large power stations away from towns and cities. Largely because of pollution emissions from motor traffic, urban air quality is once more causing public concern. Because of this concern, and to increase public awareness of air quality issues generally, the Government has established a public information system through which daily bulletins of air quality are issued via the media. These bulletins include health advice for the benefit of those whose health may be affected by high concentrations of air pollutants. Although the current situation is markedly less serious than the smogs of the 1950s, pollution concentrations regularly exceed international health guidelines in UK towns and cities, and on December 13th 1991 London experienced the most severe nitrogen dioxide pollution since regular monitoring began in 1971. The UK Government and the European Community are responding to this problem with a range of pollution abatement measures designed to cut emissions from motor traffic, of which the three-way catalytic converter is the best known. This will cut emissions dramatically from each new petrol car and should result in marked improvements in air quality. Local authorities and non-Government organisations are also advancing abatement strategies such as traffic management and the promotion of public transport as well as developing local pollution ale1t systems. However, the experience of other countries, most notably the United States of America, is that the growth of motor vehicle traffic will offset many of the air quality benefits accruing from better emission controls. For example, although three-way catalysts have been mandatory on cars in the US since 1983, the National Ambient Air Quality Standards are still regularly exceeded. In the UK, motor traffic is estimated to double by 2025 and there is real concern that even with the substantial financial investment in exhaust emission controls, the US experience will be repeated here. The Government's Environment White Paper 'This Common Inheritance' marks a shift in Government thinking by signalling that effective pollution abatement must be shown to deliver acceptable air quality. The White Paper outlines an iterative strategy for achieving this goal, via:
- improved urban air quality monitoring plus public information;
- the development of UK air quality standards;
- the integration of air quality standards and pollution control.
As part of the scientific evaluation of this strategy, the Quality of Urban Air Review group (QUARG) was invited by the Government to review the present state of urban air quality in the UK and to prepare scientific advice on the impact on our air quality of more stringent pollution control measures, such as the introduction of catalytic converters. This is the first report of the Group and outlines what we know about urban air quality and where further research is needed. The terms of reference and membership of the Review Group appear in Annex A of the Report. The principal recommendations of the report are summarised in this Executive Summary. These should be read in conjunction with the detailed recommendations at the end of each of the chapters