Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Shock as fifty-five Dundee deaths linked to pollution

Lochee Road is one of the most polluted streets in Scotland.
Lochee Road is one of the most polluted streets in Scotland.

Dozens of deaths in Dundee have been linked to air pollution following an analysis of government data.

It is estimated 55 people in the city died from long-term exposure to potentially deadly air toxin PM2.5 in 2017  – more than 3% of city deaths that year.

Dundee was superseded by Glasgow and Edinburgh when it came to poor air quality but had a higher pollution-related death rate than Aberdeen, which has a larger population.

The figures were revealed by the Centre for Cities’ annual study of the UK’s major urban areas, which took UK government data on concentrations of PM2.5 across cities in the UK, calculated the risk posed to people, then multiplied it to give the estimated number of adult deaths linked to the toxin, including due to cardiovascular diseases, lung diseases and strokes.

The method was created by Public Health England.

Proposals are currently under way for Dundee City Council to create a low-emission zone in the city centre, meaning only vehicles that meet stringent air quality criteria would be allowed to enter.

Andrew Llanwarne,  co-ordinator at Friends of the Earth Tayside, said: “These figures are scary but not surprising.

“If it was anything else causing this many deaths there would be urgent action taken, but because air pollution is so insidious and often invisible, it’s difficult to get people to take it seriously.

“A low emission zone would be a start, although it’s taken a long time for Dundee City Council to act.

“We hope this would be followed by more initiatives such as a park-and-ride, and more promotion of walking and cycling.

“Even if they exclude high-polluting vehicles from the city centre, they can still go elsewhere in Dundee.”

In Dundee, Lochee Road and Seagate have been named among the most polluted streets in Scotland.

Part of the problem is down to the structure of these areas, with high buildings on either side of narrow roads trapping polluted air.

Atholl Street in Perth has also been previously named as one of the worst affected.

Andrew Carter, Chief Executive of Centre for Cities, said: “Politicians often talk tough on addressing air pollution but we need to see more action.

“People in Scotland should be at the centre of the fight against its toxic air and councils should take the steps needed, including charging people to drive in city centres and banning wood burning stoves.”

A spokesperson for Dundee City Council said the local authority was “in no way complacent” about air quality.

He added: “The issue of improving air quality in Dundee for residents and visitors is one that is high up our agenda and various agencies in the city, including the council, are working on a number of measures to ensure emissions of PM2.5, other particulates and Nitrogen Dioxide are reduced.

“One key part of that is the work of the Dundee Low Emission Zone delivery group and its engagement with a variety of stakeholders aimed at meeting the Scottish Government’s clean air targets and giving the city safer, more convenient streets with improved air quality.”