London’s pollution is so bad that it forced me to give up my dream PhD

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/20/air-pollution-london-health-deaths

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While the mayor of London Sadiq Khan is acting on the fact that London breached its annual air pollution limit within just five days this year by advising Londoners to remain indoors, limit heavy breathing, and eat vegetables – seemingly everything other than not driving – millions of people are suffering serious health effects from exposure to particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and myriad other pollutants in the air.

Khan said: “Everyone – from the most vulnerable to the physically fit – may need to take precautions to protect themselves from the filthy air.”

Despite these warnings the public seem largely unperturbed – like the frog that stays in water as it’s slowly brought to the boil. In October last year I moved to London to start a PhD at Imperial College, South Kensington. Pollution wasn’t high on my list of worries – affording accommodation and not getting squashed while cycling were bigger fears.

It turned out these concerns paled in comparison to what became patently obvious on my first commute by bike. The air quality in London is shocking. I’ve never before felt the desire to get inside a building so I could breathe.

Red, watering eyes, running nose, sore throat, nausea and wheezing which soon turned into my first asthma attack in 10 years. I couldn’t believe it. Maybe I was ill? Unfortunately this wasn’t a 24-hour bug. And I couldn’t find a form of transport that left me feeling OK.

Researchers at King’s College London have found that car and bus passengers are exposed to more pollution than cyclists as the fumes from vehicles in front are pumped directly into the vents of the vehicle behind, and the University of Surrey discovered tube users are exposed to eight times the pollution of car drivers.

The more research I did into the health impact of pollution the more confused I felt by the nonchalance of people I met. Fellow students had no idea the air was so bad for health. The statistics are startling – the European Environment Agency says areas of London are the most polluted zones in Europe – and yet Imperial College doesn’t acknowledge this as an issue for its students.

There is a confusing disparity between compulsory health and safety training to ensure I don’t damage myself lifting a box and the complete lack of concern that 8.3% of deaths in Kensington and Chelsea are directly attributable to the air in the surrounding area. That children who grow up here have stunted lung growth, and smaller lungs for life. By living in London you’re significantly more likely to develop Alzheimer’s, heart disease and certain kinds of cancer or have a stroke. After a single day on campus it took me two nights out of town to stop wheezing.

Yet my health issues were treated with bemusement by Imperial. I was an “unusual case”. Attitudes need to change. Government policy needs to focus on reducing car journeys, not reducing breathing. Allowing remote working needs to be prioritised both to allow people time away from the most polluted areas and to reduce journeys taken into work, and therefore pollution. Employers need to acknowledge the poisonous air on their work grounds, and employees need to be told what years of breathing that air will do to their health. Like warnings on cigarette packaging, jobs need to come with air quality warnings.

Ultimately, I had to leave my PhD. I wasn’t willing to affect my health in such a startling way for a long period of time. We often project to the future when wondering about environmental issues. But this isn’t a problem for future generations. This is a problem for us. For me. Right now. I may not be able to complete my dream PhD, but as a friend put it, at least I can breathe. I just wish I didn’t have to choose between the two.