Are Traffic Fumes as Bad as Bereavement?

We all know that the fumes from vehicle exhaust pipes are detrimental to our health. Pollution hotspots all over the UK regularly exceed EU legal limits and it’s estimated that 40,000 British lives are prematurely taken by poor quality every year. Clearly, traffic fumes take their toll on our society.

But how does this toll compare to, say, a death in the family? A long and painfully drawn-out divorce? A prolonged spell of unemployment? Significantly, according to a new study from the University of York.

A “substantive effect” on life satisfaction

The study, entitled Can Clean Air Make You Happy?, sought to establish a correlation between increased exposure to the common pollutant nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and life satisfaction.

The authors achieved this by analysing data collected by the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and the UK Household Longitudinal Survey (UKHLS) and cross-referencing their findings with known emissions levels, as clarified by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The results revealed some startling news about NO2 exposure.

“Our standardised coefficients suggest that the effect of NO2 on life satisfaction is equivalent to approximately half that of unemployment, and equivalent to that of marital separation and widowhood, factors commonly associated with some of the largest wellbeing reductions in the literature to date,” they explained.

An all-encompassing problem

Moreover, the authors suggested that NO2 could have even further reaching consequences than the other “big-hitting life events”, since over 85% of Britons will be exposed to poor air quality over the course of 12 months.

“Given that the effect of NO2 is, to some extent, experienced by everyone (i.e. not everyone is unemployed but everyone is subject to a certain level of NO2 exposure) this suggests that the welfare gains to society from reductions in exposure to NO2 can be substantive,” the report says.

Previously, air pollution has been linked to a wide variety of health complications, from asthma and other respiratory conditions to heart disease and skin problems. What’s more, there is also significant evidence linking traffic fumes to autism, as well as depression, nausea and chronic migraines. This latest study only adds further weight to the argument that our airwaves must be cleaned up – and soon.

Government action needed now

Environmentalists have been calling on the government to improve air quality and reduce transport-related pollution for almost a decade now. After failing to comply with EU standards in successive years, the Tories have been taken to court on several occasions by environmental law firm ClientEarth.

However, Theresa May’s party claim that the previous Labour government is to blame for the excessive levels of pollution through its overt endorsement of diesel vehicles. At the time, it was thought that diesel engines were friendlier to the environment than petrol ones, but subsequent research has revealed that they emit far more NO2 and particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) than their petrol counterparts.

With this in mind, May has hinted that she may introduce financial incentives for diesel owners to trade in their vehicles in order to phase out the engine type gradually.