Toxic air increasingly harming those least responsible
- Air pollution has dropped by a third over the last 10 years and neighbourhoods subject to the most toxic dirty air - levels double World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines - have fallen by a whopping 93%
- But new analysis reveals a worrying trend: people of colour, those on low-incomes and non-drivers are now disproportionately overrepresented in the 5% of neighbourhoods still exposed to the most extreme air pollution
- Meanwhile, levels remain above WHO standards in 95% of English and Welsh neighbourhoods. Friends of the Earth is calling on the government to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles and ramp up investment in public transport
- Friends of the Earth’s air pollution map and full data spreadsheet are available for download on the policy website
New data analysis published today by the environmental justice organisation, Friends of the Earth, reveals the unequal impact of air pollution across England and Wales.
Using the latest government data, the green group has made a stark discovery: that the demographics of neighbourhoods subject to the most extreme air pollution have changed dramatically in the last decade, with people of colour, those on the lowest incomes and non-drivers now overrepresented in these areas.
Overall, air pollution has improved across England and Wales in that time, having fallen by more than a third and with the number of neighbourhoods breathing the most toxic air (double WHO levels for either or both of the pollutants NO2 and PM2.5) slashed by 93%. Yet, this progress has not been felt equally.
Ten years ago, the neighbourhoods with the worst air pollution had demographics broadly in line with national averages - 30% were on low incomes, 20% were people of colour and 22% didn’t own a car.
Today, such hotspots see air pollution hitting those least responsible for it the hardest: in the remaining 5% of areas with the worst air, half the population are people of colour, 48% are on the lowest incomes, and 60% don’t drive. Contrastingly, neighbourhoods with air quality better than WHO guidelines have populations where only 3% are people of colour and 16% are income deprived.
Additionally, the decline of the pollutant NO2 (nitrogen oxide) has been slower in these hotspots than the rest of the country (a 35% decrease compared to the wider 41%). They are also home to roughly 600,000 children, of which two-thirds are under 12. There are also 1,234 schools in these neighbourhoods.
Air pollution campaigner Beau Boka Batesa founded Choked Up with a group of young Londoners during the Covid pandemic, frustrated by the disparate impacts of air pollution on their black and brown, working-class communities.
Growing up in inner-city London, Beau has felt the health impacts of lifelong toxic air first hand:
"Unfortunately, the story the data tells is not news to me, nor my peers and loved ones: it’s our lived experience.
“Growing up, a lot of friends or family either had chronic illnesses or asthma. It was like we were all living at only 75% capacity – which already puts you at a disadvantage – and it isn’t fair when you pile on the social inequalities we were already facing.
"Air pollution is a complex issue, and while it’s important to acknowledge that we are moving forward in terms of reducing dirty air, we need to ensure that the most vulnerable members of our communities are actively at the forefront of policy if we are to achieve any sort of justice in the future."
In light of its shocking new findings, Friends of the Earth is calling on the government to investigate why those exposed to the highest levels of toxic air pollution are increasingly the most marginalised communities and the factors that have led to this dramatic shift. It must also do far more to clean up our air, noting that the main source for these pollutants is transport and that the majority of households in these hotspots don’t drive.
Mike Childs, head of science, policy and research at Friends of the Earth, said:
"This data uncovers a story of grave environmental injustice. It’s unacceptable that those least responsible for air pollution are the ones left to breathe extraordinarily high levels of health-damaging dirty air.
“While progress in the last 10 years has been laudable, we now need a concerted effort to extend these air quality improvements to the remaining hotspots, and the communities that live there. Bringing the UK’s legal limits for air quality in line with WHO guidelines is a great place to start.
“The Chancellor can drive real progress in her Autumn Budget by boosting funding to improve public transport and infrastructure for walking and cycling, and accelerating the uptake of electric vehicles. This will not only help save lives and the NHS billions of pounds, but slash planet-warming emissions – clearly a win-win.”
Beyond the most extreme levels of air pollution, and the overall improvement in air quality across England and Wales in the last decade, 95% of all neighbourhoods still breach WHO recommended levels for health-harming air pollution. Dirty air remains one of the UK’s biggest killers and is considered the biggest environmental threat to health in the UK, contributing to up to 30,000 premature deaths annually and costing the NHS at least £27 billion a year.
Livi Elsmore, campaign manager at the Healthy Air Coalition, said:
“It’s an outrage that the most disadvantaged communities still have to breathe the most toxic air from car fumes, despite being least likely to drive.
“It's high time our government took this health crisis seriously by setting a timeline for when we can all breathe clean, safe air.”
Paul McDonald, Chief Campaigns Officer at Health Equals, said:
“Clean air isn’t just an environmental issue — it’s a clear example of health inequality in the UK.
“While some children breathe safely, many grow up in areas where toxic air damages their lungs before they even reach school. Clean air is just one part of the solution, and that’s why we’re calling for a cross-government health inequalities strategy to Make Health Equal.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- Friends of the Earth’s neighbourhood air pollution analysis includes an interactive map alongside the data at local authority level. This analysis is an update of mapping first published by Friends of the Earth in 2022. It uses modelling data published annually by DEFRA for 2024 and earlier years. For more information about our methodology, please visit the Friends of the Earth policy website.
- Neighbourhoods are defined by the Office as National Statistics (ONS) as LSOAs [Lower layer Super Output Areas] and they have an average population of around 1,500. The geographical size varies considerably, with rural LSOAs much larger than urban LSOAs.
- Most extreme/worst/highest levels of air pollution are defined as being twice the World Health Organization levels for either or both of the pollutants NO2 and PM2.5.