Pollution

Pollution

Although it rarely hits the headlines, pollution is a big issue. Air pollution is a major killer. Other sorts of pollution, while not having such a drastic effect on humans, damage our environment and spoil our quality of life.

Types of pollution

There are various types of pollution :

• Air pollution
• Water pollution
• Contaminated land and pollution of groundwater
• Noise pollution
• Light pollution
• Radiation

Chimney

Air pollution

A government committee has estimated that 12,000 to 24,000 people in the UK die every year from the acute effects of air pollution. More die from chronic effects. Air pollution is therefore a major health issue.

In many parts of West London our air is not fit to breathe. The main source of air pollution is traffic emissions. Significant amounts also come from residential and commercial gas use, industry, construction sites and emissions from outside London. A particularly large and concentrated source of air pollution is Heathrow. Indeed, it is the biggest single source of pollution in Western Europe.

For more information on air pollution, see our air pollution page.

 

Water pollution

Water pollution

The quality of the water in our rivers and canals is generally not too good. They are not fit for us to swim in and they are often not too good for wildlife either. There have been improvements in recent years, but they are still far from what we would wish to see.

The Environment Agency is the government body responsible for water quality. It does some admirable work, but it suffers from the failing of most public bodies - it is not really prepared to take on those parties who are polluting our water. A notable instance has been heavy pollution of water bodies by Heathrow Airport. Nothing was being done about it by the Environment Agency until a concerted campaign was launched by local residents.

A particular class of pollutants which can get into water and which threaten our health and our wildlife are pesticides. 31,000 tonnes of pesticides are used in the UK every year. Overuse, careless use and incorrect disposal of pesticides mean that a range of dangerous chemicals get into our watercourses. Water companies have to constantly test for pesticides and removing them drinking water costs us - consumers of water - large sums of money. For more information on pesticides and how we can avoid them, see Pesticides Action Network web site.

There are no local FOE groups actively campaigning on the issue at present. Perhaps you would like to get involved !

(Ack to New Scientist)

Contaminated land and pollution of groundwater

There are significant areas of contaminated land in West London. This is the legacy of earlier industrial activity, at a time when looking after the environment and cleaning up after one had finished were not even considered.

There is now legislation that requires local authorities to identify contaminated land and, if necessary, make it safe. However, it has to be said that this is very low in the government's set of priorities. More information on contaminated land can be found on the web site of Ealing council.

A particular class of pollutants which can get into water and which threaten our health and our wildlife are pesticides. 31,000 tonnes of pesticides are used in the UK every year. Overuse, careless use and incorrect disposal of pesticides mean that a range of dangerous chemicals get into our watercourses. For more information on pesticides and how we can avoid them, see Pesticides Action Network web site.

There are no local FOE groups actively campaigning on the issue at present. Perhaps you would like to get involved !

Noise

Noise pollution

Noise is a common problem in modern-day life and it represents a serious threat to our quality of life. A recent survey showed that the biggest problems in London are, in order of priority:

• Traffic noise
• Aircraft noise
• Neighbour noise
• Construction noise
• Railway noise

Friends of the Earth does not campaign on noise as such. However, we are very active on the biggest contributors to noise, namely road traffic and aircraft. See the Ealing, the Hammersmith & Fulham and the Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Friends of the Earth groups, which are especially concerned about road traffic. For information on aircraft, see our aviation pages.

Light pollution

Light pollution

Light pollution has been described as "the cinderella of pollution issues". But if we care about quality of life, we ought to be concerned about light pollution.

Ealing Friends of the Earth campaigns on light pollution. For more about the issue see the Introduction to light pollution.

Radiation

Radiation

Radiation arising from nuclear power or weapons is, thankfully, not a major issue in West London at present. But the government's failure to address the need to reduce energy consumption, together with a worrying resurgence of the pro-nuclear lobby, mean that that the issue could return. Friends of the Earth will, as usual, be well ahead of game.

Radiation in the form of radio waves is a live issue. With the proliferation of mobile phone masts, there is increasing concern about possible health effects on people nearby. Friends of the Earth does not campaign on the issue as such, but, like other forms of pollution, we are concerned that public health and safety take second place to vested interests in the telecoms industry.