About air quality

Air quality is a term used to describe the condition of the air based on the amount of pollutants (as concentration) within the air. Poor air quality has identified as the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK due to the numerous health risks associated with it,

Air pollutants are emitted from a range of both man-made and natural sources. Many everyday activities such as transport, industrial processes, farming, energy generation and domestic heating can have a detrimental effect on air quality.

In Cheltenham, the main pollutants of concern are nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM). Nitrogen dioxide occurs when fossil fuels (coal, oil or gas) are burned at high temperatures, as they are in an engine. Particulate matter encompasses everything in the air that isn’t a gas. The main sources of particulate matter are industrial processes, domestic and industrial combustion and road transport.

Find out more about different pollutants

How does air pollution affect health?  

Studies have shown that long-term exposure to air pollution (over years or lifetimes) reduces life expectancy, mainly due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and lung cancer.

Short-term exposure (over hours or days) to elevated levels of air pollution can also cause a range of health impacts, including effects on lung function, exacerbation of asthma, increases in respiratory and cardiovascular hospital admissions and mortality (gov.uk).