Air pollution: England’s chief medical officer calls for focus on health threat

Dame Sally Davies says issue is not just environmental and calls on UK government to bring in tougher standards to tackle toxic air

England's chief medical officer is calling on the government to do more to reduce air pollution by introducing stringent new national standards to reduce the threat to human health.

Dame Sally Davies says pollution must be seen as a public health issue and not just an environmental concern. She recommends the government bring in tougher standards to cut air pollution and standardise any road charging introduced to cut nitrogen dioxide pollution from diesel traffic.