Report claims that 21 lives a year could be saved in Tipperary if clean air guidelines are adopted

Above: Tim Collins, left, Chief Executive, Irish Heart Foundation, with Minister Eamon Ryan and the Head of British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland, Fearghal McKinney, at the launch of the Air Pollution and Mortality on the Island of Ireland report by the Irish Heart Foundation and British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland. Picture: Photocall Ireland

Twenty one lives a year could be saved in county Tipperary if authorities on both sides of the Border adopt international guidelines on air pollution, a new report has claimed. 

The major all-island assessment reveals that around 2,600 premature deaths can be attributed to air pollution – 1,700 in the Republic and 900 in Northern Ireland – annually. 

In Tipperary, the data shows that 67 premature deaths a year are linked to dirty air – with 26 people in the county dying from heart disease as a result of air pollution.

The study, Air Pollution and Mortality on the Island of Ireland, launched by Environment Minister Eamon Ryan, was commissioned by the Irish Heart Foundation and British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland and compiled by experts from Queen’s University Belfast and Technological University Dublin.  

The World Health Organisation recommends air quality guideline levels for harmful particulate matter, largely caused by the burning of solid fuels, of 5 micrograms per cubic metre - but the level in Tipperary is 7.3 micrograms.

The Irish and Northern Irish heart charities are calling on both governments to collaborate to improve air quality across the whole island. 

“We know that across the island of Ireland, poor air quality is continuing to have a detrimental impact on public health,” said Irish Heart Foundation CEO, Tim Collins. 

“This report estimates that there could be almost 1,000 fewer premature deaths per year attributable to air pollution on the island of Ireland if we are to achieve fine particulate matter pollution levels in line with the updated 2021 WHO guideline level. 

“The findings within this report (funded by a grant from The Community Foundation For Ireland), make for stark reading and serve to shed some light on the size of the problem of air pollution. 

“We hope that decision makers on the island will utilise it to move forward with bold action on air pollution to protect our health”. 

He called for an all-island strategy to make the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines enforceable on both sides of the Border – and help for households experiencing fuel poverty to lessen their reliance on solid fuels to heat their homes.

“Air pollution does not respect borders, therefore, to truly improve our air quality, governments must work together with co-ordinated policy interventions and legislation to protect our health, including to completely phase out the most health-harming solid fuels and transition to cleaner, more sustainable forms of home heating,” he said. 

Particulate matter or PM2.5 can damage blood vessels, causing them to become narrower and harder, and can also cause abnormal heart rhythms and increase blood pressure, increasing the risk of heart attacks and stroke.