Dover's Pollution Levels Are Harmful to Babies
- 15 October 2013 20:40248483Even low levels of traffic pollution can harm babies in the womb. The higher the levels of pollution, the more significant the damage.
A study carried out involving 74,000 expecting mothers, spanning from 1994 to 2011, has been analysed and presented.
The results are shocking.
Babies suffer in the womb from pollution inhaled by the mother, and these pollutants are directly related to passing traffic and to industrial fumes.
Dover has a particularly high rate of traffic-related pollution, but are the local Authorities keeping us informed of the dangers linked to high volumes of traffic?
http://news.sky.com/story/1154600/air-pollution-linked-to-low-birthweightChanters, Drums and Drones Potty Time http://youtu.be/99fMqpjnXYA
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Kent First http://youtu.be/04F3mAP3fV4 Keep banging on http://youtu.be/qYCU_SKmkGQ - 16 October 2013 09:14248553From the report - "The widespread exposure of pregnant women worldwide to urban ambient air pollution at similar or even higher concentrations than those assessed in our study provides a clear message to policymakers to improve the quality of the air we all share."
It won't be policymakers who reduce the pollution, it will be the scientists and technologists who develop more efficient and less polluting engines. - 16 October 2013 17:26248623So what about pollution from traffic that harms babies in their mother's womb?
Do the local Authorities address the issue here?
I mean today in the present.Chanters, Drums and Drones Potty Time http://youtu.be/99fMqpjnXYA
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Kent First http://youtu.be/04F3mAP3fV4 Keep banging on http://youtu.be/qYCU_SKmkGQ - 16 October 2013 18:41248631I wonder if there is more potential risk here due to pollutants from the ships. I don't know but high sulfur levels because of the ferries? I'm certainly not a scientist but would be very interested
- 16 October 2013 18:49248633going off at a tangent slightly, about 20 years ago a university done a study of childhood asthma and it transpired that the closer a child lived to a busy road the higher the chance of suffering the condition.
- 16 October 2013 18:58248634Dover has at least three air quality measurement areas I believe. Brian Gibson from DDC is the council employee responsible for reporting the air pollution levels. Whilst some levels can be increased from the norm the levels are within normal health limits I understand. This is atopic which is regularly discussed and is reported to Port of Dover Consultative Committee at times. It fits nicely into the South Coast Health and Wellbeing Board's public health responsibilities.
Watty - 16 October 2013 19:41248640From living on Western Heights you can often see the pollution from the Dock area drifting up the valley into the town. Whether this is from the boats, lorries or both is hard to tell but I'm glad I don't live down in it!
- Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
16 October 2013 19:46248642 - Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
16 October 2013 19:48248643there is also this from kcc.
http://www.kent.gov.uk/environment_and_planning/environment_and_climate_change/environmental_health.aspx - Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
16 October 2013 19:50248644 - Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
16 October 2013 19:54248645 - 16 October 2013 20:08248647Indeed Mike, I live on Folkestone Road and certainly do feel the pollution from the traffic.
It affects me, also in town, but the authorities brush it off.Chanters, Drums and Drones Potty Time http://youtu.be/99fMqpjnXYA
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Kent First http://youtu.be/04F3mAP3fV4 Keep banging on http://youtu.be/qYCU_SKmkGQ - 17 October 2013 16:21248742Air pollution causes hundreds of thousands of deaths each year through lung cancer.
Who can claim to be satisfied with DDC's handling of our environment with regards to traffic pollution?
I for one am not satisfied.
Are the Public being informed of the risks to our health in Dover?
Doubtful. Never come across any release from DDC on the matter.
"The air we breathe is laced with cancer-causing substances and is now classified as carcinogenic to humans, World Health Organisation says."
"The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said that in 2010, 223,000 deaths from lung cancer worldwide resulted from air pollution, also pointing out there was also convincing evidence it increases the risk of bladder cancer."
http://news.sky.com/story/1155754/air-pollution-leading-cause-of-cancerChanters, Drums and Drones Potty Time http://youtu.be/99fMqpjnXYA
Rule Britannia!
Kent First http://youtu.be/04F3mAP3fV4 Keep banging on http://youtu.be/qYCU_SKmkGQ - Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
17 October 2013 16:32248744here you are alex,ddc's outlook.
http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/library/no2ten/documents/Local_zone31_Dover_AQActionplan_1.pdf - 17 October 2013 17:00248746Alex, DDC are not responsible for the environmental enforcement in respect of pollution on the major highways. DDC monitor and report the findings to Public Health officials formerly East Kent PCT now KCC. The levels are reported and we regularly make the case for the reducing lorry traffic particularly along Townwall St. That is why DDC supported the Port of Dover T2 proposals so port traffic could be could be diverted to the appropriate terminal via the A2 or A20 this would have taken lorry traffic away from Dover Town centre. These are international issues and require international treaty action on lorry emissions. The shipping industry is already responding to the sulphur emissions regulations and new ships comply with these standards. I've given you the name of the technical officer responsible for monitoring at DDC . Speak to him for further info.
As seen from the last posting the 2007 Action Plan [AQMA] is as relevant today as when dealt with in the Local Plan.
Watty - Weird Granny Slater
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 7 Jun 2017
- Posts: 3,095
11 January 2019 12:30353352Not Dover I know, but I hope this will have implications for areas, such as Dover, in which air pollution is a problem. My asthma started after I worked in the Eastern Docks unloading coaches (the drivers of which (the English ones, that is) mainly refused to cut their engines while we were transferring baggage from boot to conveyor) and has never looked back.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-46823309'Pass the cow dung, my dropsy's killing me' - Heraclitus - 11 January 2019 17:46353366Going back over more than 20 years a couple of our universities did a study of asthma in young children and it transpired that the closer they lived to a road carrying heavy traffic meant their chances went up of suffering from it. It really was as simple as that. Not soon after a young chap I worked with told me about his 4 year old suffering from it. Turned out he lived in Edmonton which I knew consisted of tightly packed streets where everyone insisted on having a car even though a 5 minute walk to the shops would take about 20 minutes by car, most of that time static with the engine running.