2 May 2013 by Pelle Neroth The figures come from the European
Environment Agency. And their publication coincides with a
British Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday that has found the UK
government to be in breach of EU air quality laws. The supreme
court is now referring the case to the European Court of
Justice, which may take 18 months to make a final ruling on what
the UK government must do. What the air quality directive
focuses on is breaches in specific pollutants, And London has
been ajudged as exceeding EU limits on emissions of NO2,
nitrogen dioxide, a colourless, odourless gas whose principal
polluter is diesel engines and which has a negative effect on
health in high concentrations, particularly dangerous for those
with heart and lung problems. According to one UK government
committee, Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants
(COMEAP), air pollution leads to 29,000 excess deaths in the UK
every year. In another study, authored by two academics at MIT,
pollution caused by road vehicle was e