European study on long-term effects of air pollution
ESCAPE - European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects
The 5th December 1952 was the start of the last major smog in London. It is estimated that this air pollution episode killed over 4,000 people and was one of the main spurs for the introduction of the Clean Air Act to reduce particulate air pollution in our cities. One of the first indications of the increased mortality was reports of London undertakers running out of coffins.
Details of the incident can be found on various websites/web documents, including:
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/education/secondary/students/smog.html
http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/
http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/Collections/OnlineResources/
The smog episode caused the premature death of vulnerable people with pre-existing cardio-respiratory disease. These effects of pollution have been well studied but there is still concern about our limited understanding of the long-term effects of air pollution on health. IOM is part of a large European study to investigate the long-term effects of air pollution, particularly fine airborne particles, on various chronic diseases.
Details of this project are available at...
http://www.escapeproject.eu/index.php