Report finds 18 lives could be saved annually in Galway with new air pollution measures

Galway Bay fm newsroom – A new report has found that 18 lifes could be saved in Galway every year if authorities in Ireland adopted international guidelines on air pollution.

The major all-island assessment reveals that over 2,500 deaths, North and South, can be attributed to pollution every year.

The study was commissioned by the Irish Heart Foundation and British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland.

Compiled by experts from Queen’s University Belfast and Technological University Dublin, it calls on Governments on both sides of the border to work together to improve air quality.

The data shows in Galway, 78 premature deaths a year are linked to dirty air – with 31 people dying from heart disease as a result of air pollution.

The World Health Organisation recommends air quality guideline levels for harmful particulate matter of 5 micrograms per cubic metre.

But in Galway, the level recorded is significantly beyond that at 7.3 micrograms.

The report found that overall, 1,700 deaths in the republic and a further 900 in North Ireland every year can be attributed to air pollution.