Pollutionwatch: Big ships, bigger stink
The Guardian, 28 December 2014
Dr Gary Fuller, Analytical and Environmental Sciences, has written a piece on the environmental effects of shipping, which, despite being more energy efficient than road or air transport, still contributes significantly to pollution levels. He wrote: 'Growth in shipping and increasingly stringent controls on land-based pollution sources mean ship pollution is set to grow as a proportion of our pollution exposure.'Autism link to air pollution raisedBBC News, 18 December 2014Scientists have suggested that there may be a link between autism and air pollution exposure during pregnancy, following findings showing high levels of pollution had been linked to a doubling of autism in their study of 1,767 children. Professor Frank Kelly, Environmental Research Group, commented on the study. He said: 'Women should be made aware of the potential links so they don't get excessive exposure'
Wood-fired stoves fuel city pollution
Sunday Times, 14 December 2014
A team of researchers from Kings has found that burning wood generates particulates that can trigger heart attacks and lung complaints, as well as causing long term damage to health. The lead researcher, Dr Gary Fuller, Environmental Research Group, said: 'Although the apparent carbon neutrality of wood-burning may make it appear environmentally friendly there is growing evidence of adverse health effects from wood smoke.' Also reported by Daily Mail
Saying "non" to NOxNewScientist, 13 December 2014
Paris is looking at plans to ban pollutant-emitting diesel cars from its streets in six years' time. Professor Frank Kelly, Environmental Research Group, is mentioned in the piece discussing how diesel emissions are a major source of pollution in a number of European cities.
Paris says 'non' to diesel in anti-pollution push
NewScientist, 9 December 2014
It has been reported that Paris may ban diesel cars from its streets in six years' time, in a bid to reduce heart and lung disease linked with breathing in nitrogen oxides from the air. Professor Frank Kelly, Environmental Research Group, is quoted in the piece saying: 'If clean air is the objective, finding alternatives to diesel vehicles needs to be a priority.'
Pollutionwatch: No fire without smoke
The Guardian, 7 December 2014
Dr Gary Fuller, Analytical and Environmental Sciences, has written a piece on how air pollution from fireworks causes substantial pollution problems. Discussing Guy Fawkes Night this year, he wrote: 'Air pollution reached the top level of 10 on the UK scale across the West Midlands, Merseyside, Manchester and Yorkshire. For the West Midlands this was the most polluted day since March 2013".
Something in the air
China Daily, 19 November 2014
Medical experts have warned that more than one in 10 children in Hong Kong could now suffer from asthma. Professor Frank Kelly,Environmental Research Group, told a Hong Kong audience that air pollution stunted the growth of children's lungs.
Doping bans
Sky News, 12 November 2014
Professor David Cowan,Director of King's Drug Control Centre,was interviewed about the state of drug testing in the UK, following reports that a third of UK sports people serving doping bans are rugby players.
Boris Johnson admits London's Oxford Street is one of world's most polluted
The Guardian, 13 November 2014
Dr David Carslaw, Environmental Research Group, was quoted in relation to air pollution levels on Oxford Street.
Skin and the City: how to avoid a polluted complexion
London Evening Standard, 12 November 2014
Professor Frank Kelly commented for article in the London Evening Standard.
Pollutionwatch: When will exhaust tests get real?The Guardian, 9 November 2014
The latest in Dr.Gary Fuller's pollution watch series for Guardian website.
Pollutionwatch: Fine weather – with added particulates and SO2The Guardian, 12 October 2014
The latest in Dr.Gary Fuller's pollution watch series for Guardian website.
Air pollution slows growth of children's lungs, says UK studySouth China Morning News, 6 October 2014
Following the release of a six-year study indicating that children exposed to nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter have slower lung growth, medical experts are calling for more action to clean the UK's air. Professor Frank Kelly, Environmental Research Group, was quoted saying that a child could lose as much as 165ml of lung volume under high-level exposure to nitrogen dioxide.
World Pollutionwatch: A breath of not-so-fresh air
The Guardian, 28 September 2014
The latest in Dr.Gary Fuller's pollution watch series for Guardian website.
Air Pollution
BBC News London, 10 September 2014
Boris Johnson has faced a committee of MPs to explain why the capital regularly fails to reach EU standards. According to Public Health England, air pollution is responsible for the premature deaths of nearly 3500 people in London each year. The report mentions research by King's that has found that emissions have been reduced by 3 per cent over the last six years. Also reported by BBC News
Pollution is worse in your car than on street
Sunday Times, 7 September 2014
According to a new King's study, car and taxi users are being exposed to air pollution levels inside their vehicles that are higher than those on the roads that they're driving along. The researchers equipped five MPs with devices to measure airborne pollution levels and to show in which parts of London they were exposed to the highest doses. Ben Barratt, Environmental Research Group, discussed the recent study. He said: 'Our monitoring equipment showed that people in vehicles were far more exposed to air pollution than they would be walking.'
London air pollution: which mode of transport has the highest exposure? - video
The Guardian, 12 August 2014
An exercise by the Healthy Air Campaign, King's College London and Camden council used members of the public to track exposure to air pollution in London. The monitoring found that that travelling on foot or by bike exposed commuters to significantly fewer fumes than using a car or bus.
Pollutionwatch: Masks can help - but not enough
The Guardian, 10 August 2014
The latest in Dr. Gary Fuller's pollution watch series for Guardian website.
Diesel drivers set to pay an extra £10 in London in plans drawn up by mayor Boris Johnson to curb pollution
Daily Mail, 29 July 2014
Drivers of diesel cars face financial penalties to curb air pollution in city centres.
Diesel cars face £10 charge for driving into central London
BBC News, 29 July 2014
Plans to charge drivers of diesel cars about £10 to drive into central London are being considered.
Diesel drivers to be penalised in drive to cut air pollution
The Telegraph, 29 July 2014
Drivers of diesel powered vehicles could face new charges and higher taxes to encourage them to switch to cleaner vehicles and lower pollution levels
Increase diesel taxes to fight pollution, say Boris Johnson and green groups
The Guardian, 29 July 2014
Green campaigners, pollution experts and the mayor of London have called on government to increase taxes on diesel fuel to tackle dirty air in UK cities.
Diesel drivers may face higher costs in pollution battle
The Guardian, 29 July 2014
Drivers in London with vehicles fuelled by diesel will be charged an additional fee similar to the existing £11.50 congestion charge, if proposals by the mayor Boris Johnson are accepted.
Diesel drivers face new charges to cut pollution
The Times, 29 July 2014
Cities scramble to comply with Brussels clean air rules
Pollutionwatch: Still better by bike
The Guardian, 13 July 2014
The latest in Dr. Gary Fuller's pollution watch series for Guardian website.
20 best Android apps and games this week
The Guardian, 7 July 2014
An app developed by the Environmental Research Group has been listed in the Guardian's top 20 Android apps and games this week. The app, City Air, informs Londoners about likely air quality across the capital and offers tips on how to reduce exposure and emissions.
Oxford Street worst in the world for diesel pollution
Sunday Times, 6 July 2014
Dr David Carslaw, Environmental Research Group, was quoted in relation to air pollution levels on Oxford Street. He said: ‘To my knowledge this [level] is the highest in the world in terms of both hourly and annual mean. NO2 concentrations [in Oxford Street] are as high as they have ever been in the long history of air pollution.’
Pollutionwatch: The world's dirtiest cities
The Guardian, 1 July 2014
The latest in Dr. Gary Fuller's pollution watch series for Guardian website.
Is air pollution poisoning your body?
Daily Mail, 27 May 2014
A health feature on the effects of air pollution on our bodies mentions a study conducted by Good Health and King's which found that, while black carbon levels in London where well below the WHO and EU recommended maximum limits,regular exposure and even this level can have adverse health effects.
Clean air in cities, what's behind the smoke screen?
Daily Telegraph, 24 May 2014
An article discussing the impact of diesel emissions mentions research by King's in 2013.
Have you got the commuter cough?
London Evening Standard,, 21 May 2014
An article reporting the health effects of pollution in the warmer weather quotes Professor Frank Kelly, Environmental Research Group, who said: ‘When it gets warmer, usually the wind dies down too so less pollution is moved out of the city.’
London put on smog alert as temperatures rise
ITV News,19 May 2014
With the weekend seeing the hottest temperatures of the year so far, this piece comments on the smog risk in London. It mentions that researchers from King's said air from parts of Europe will move across the capital, bringing with it ‘industrial and urban emissions’.
Ditch diesel cars to save London lives
London Evening Standard,, 6 May 2014
Professor Frank Kelly, Environmental Research Group, is quoted in this piece calling for a reduction in diesel cars on the capital's roads in order to reduce the death toll from breathing in polluted air. He said: ‘To cut pollution we must reduce traffic and ensure that what remains on the road is cleaner.’ Research from King’s which has found that diesel cars emit up to four times more nitrogen oxides than official tests have indicated was reported in relation to this by the Times.
Frank Kelly: We have to get to grips with London’s filthy air
London Evening Standard,, 6 May 2014
Our appalling air quality isn’t due to lack of attention by professionals or lack of awareness in government.
Switch to diesel cars 'costs 7,000 lives every year': Toxic fumes blamed for health crisis
London Evening Standard,, 30 April 2014
Professor Frank Kelly, Environmental Research Group (ERG), said that government ministers have created a public health crisis by promoting diesel cars. Diesel engines – championed since the 1970s because they were thought to emit fewer greenhouse gases – could responsible for more than 7,000 deaths a year in Britain. Professor Kelly said: ‘We have had a vast penetration of diesel vehicles into the transport sector. Diesel drives all our buses, drives all our taxis and drives one in two of the cars on the road.’
Call for higher tax on ‘deadly’ diesel
The Times, 30 April 2014
Diesel should be taxed at a higher rate than petrol and older diesel cars should be banned from cities to help prevent thousands of premature deaths, according to a government adviser on air pollution.
Diesel engine pollution linked to early deaths and costs NHS billions
The Guardian, 29 April 2014
Diesel engines in buses, vans, cars and trains may be responsible for thousands of premature deaths a year and cost the NHS billions of pounds, say air pollution health experts.
Air Pollution media coverage
Various media channels, 11 April 2014
Following the widespread media coverage on air pollution, staff members from the Environmental Research Group at King's College London were interviewed by all the major media channels.
WHO: Pollution kills 7 million people every year
Daily Mail, 25 March 2014
Air pollution kills about 7 million people worldwide every year, with more than half of the fatalities due to fumes from indoor stoves, according to a new report from the World Health Organization published Tuesday. "We all have to breathe, which makes pollution very hard to avoid," said Prof. Frank Kelly, director of the Environmental Research Group at King's College London, who was not part of the WHO report.
China's anti-smog drive
CNC International,, 11 March 2014
Dr Gary Fuller, Environmental Research Group, is interviewed in a programme on China’s air pollution problem. He discussed London’s attempts to tackle air pollution: ‘London has been doing a very large experiment of applying dust suppressants to roads, a chemical called calcium magnesium acetate. It means that some of the pollutants stick to the roads rather than being suspended in the air.’ Professor Frank Kelly, Environmental Research Group, was interviewed on the same topic by CCTV (China).
UK faces £300m fine over failure to meet air pollution targets by 2010
Independent, 21 February 2014
Responding to reports that the European Commission is to take legal action against Britain over high levels of air pollution, Dr Benjamin Barratt, Environmental Research Group, said air quality in the UK is ‘not good enough’ and is ‘having an effect on all of our health.’ Dr Barratt was also interviewed on BBC Radio Five Live. Item starts at 1.44.45.
Air pollution: how big a problem is it for cyclists?
Guardian, 20 February 2014
Dr Gary Fuller, Environmental Research Group, comments on the dangers caused by diesel engines in urban areas. He said: 'People should be worrying about diesel traffic and particle exposure, and also about nitrogen dioxide. The thing about these is they haven’t really improved in urban areas for the last decade or so. We’ve managed to clean up air pollution emissions in terms of nitrogen dioxide from petrol cars.'
Air pollution
BBC Radio 4 Inside Health, 18 February 2014
A landmark European study published last month found a link between invisible particles of soot and heart attacks. Professor Frank Kelly, Environmental Research Group, commented: 'Increased risk was relatively small (5-10 per cent) but it's still a risk and there's 45,000 people dying from heart attacks in the UK every year.' Item begins at 20.33.
Martin gets on his bike to test air pollution
ITV New s, 17 January 2014
Dr Ben BarrattEnvironmental Research Group, helped ITV presenter Martin Stew to measure and explore the levels of pollution he is exposed to during his daily cycling commute. Dr Barratt took an alternative, less congested route, and found that this significantly reduced the levels of pollution he was exposed to during the cycle. Dr Barratt was also interviewed by Radio 4 Todayon the topic of air pollution, particularly in relation to the risk of heart attacks.