Domus: Why we need Clean Air Day more than ever

Thursday 16th June 2022 is Clean Air Day, which is the UK’s largest air pollution campaign.  Why, when the Clean Air Act was passed in 1956, do we need a campaign focussing on air pollution in the UK? Domus explore this question…

What’s the problem?

In 2021, the World Health Organisation (WHO) released new Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQG) which revised air quality levels downwards for six pollutants., including particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO²). WHO warns ‘exceeding the new air quality guideline levels is associated with significant risks to health.’

Watch our short animation to find out about the impacts of air pollution on our health and please share it across social media platforms if you can.  We have several other which you can access from https://www.linkedin.com/company/domusventilation/.

How are we doing?

In short: not very well.  

In 2021, the UK was found guilty by the European Court of Justice of ‘systematically and persistently’ breaching air pollution limits.  The UK government’s latest data shows that NO² limits are being exceeded in 33 out of 43 air quality assessment zones.  

According to NHS England, 30% of preventable deaths in England are due to non-communicable diseases specifically attributed to air pollution.  

Clean Air Day – we all have a role to play

Clean Air Day, led by Global Action Plan, aims to improve public understanding of air pollution and how it affects our health, along with identifying the easy actions we can take to tackle air pollution.

Experts agree that both source removal and ventilation are key to reducing indoor air pollutants.  Reducing PM2.5 and NO² to within safe limits are the long term goal but, in the meantime, we have to rely on ventilation and filtration to make our indoor environments safe and comfortable. 

Designing homes with Mechanical Extract Ventilation (MEV) and Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) systems, with a PM2.5 and/or NO² filter in heavily polluted areas, is a valuable and relatively low cost means of achieving this.  

If you’d like to find out more, sign up for the free BESA (Building Engineering Services Association) special webinar on the 16th June: Clean Air Day – Building Ventilation on the Front Line.  A representative from our Ventilation Climate Division will be sharing their expertise.  

Domus Ventilation is a manufacturer of market-leading ventilation systems that save energy and improve indoor air quality. 

www.domusventilation.co.uk | [email protected]