Suffolk: Air pollution was contributory factor in more than 800 deaths in 12 months

Long-term exposure to air pollution was a contributory factor in the deaths of an estimated 816 people in Suffolk and Norfolk over a 12-month period, new figures have revealed.

The statistic was revealed in a new report published by Public Health England – the first time deaths attributable to particle air pollution in all local authority areas have been estimated.

It estimated that over the course of 2010, the deaths of 366 people in Suffolk aged 25 or over could be attributable, at least in part, to air pollution.

In Norfolk the estimate was that air pollution contributed to the deaths of 450 people aged 25 or over.

The figures were calculated by modelling annual average concentrations of man-made particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter, known as PM2.5 and their impacts on health. The report says much of the air pollution is caused by burning fossil fuels and from motor vehicles.

The estimates are made for long-term exposure to particulate air pollution rather than short-term exposure to high pollution episodes such as the recent Saharan dust.