Last week’s event, organised by the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Carbon Monoxide and Health, brought together policy experts, charities and academics. It followed the proposal of the Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill and the publication, last month, of the UK government’s clean air strategy.
During the debate, panelists were positive about the potential of the Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill to improve the UK’s IAQ but expressed frustration at current government strategies. Dr Sarah West drew on her research to highlight the importance of improving public awareness about the impacts of IAQ on health as a vital step towards empowering individuals to take effective action on air quality. Generating meaningful IAQ interventions means offering building occupants a range of mitigation strategies, seeking reliable industry advice and ensuring that ventilation systems are well-maintained.
“We know that air pollution is a major public health risk, we also have tools at our disposal to help mitigate the effects of poor air quality, for example, ventilation, air cleaning , behaviour changes and awareness campaigns.”
— Dr Sarah West, SEI York
Key speakers reiterated the importance of urgent action being taken in order to tackle indoor air pollution across all settings. The debate took place on the same day as the launch of a parliamentary inquiry into the effectiveness of existing IAQ targets.
