November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month, an initiative led by the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation and Macmillan Cancer Support which brings together a number of other charities and the Department of Health. Did you know that lung cancer claims 33,500 lives every year, making it the leading cause of cancer death in the UK? We have just had Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and there's a national breast screening programme - but, in fact, lung cancer kills more people than breast cancer, prostate cancer, and leukaemia put together. Unfortunately despite its importance, lung cancer attracts only 3% of cancer research funding, according to the British Lung Foundation.

Smoking and cancer go together in public perception. But never-smokers and ex-smokers get lung cancer too, and the cause is often exposure to carcinogens like certain industrial chemicals, asbestos and radon gas. There is also mounting evidence that air pollution plays a role in lung

A study of the public cycle sharing scheme in Barcelona (called Bicing) reveals that the overall effects on health are positive, and there are significant reductions in carbon emissions. The results could be applicable to London, where a bike sharing scheme has been up and running since 2010 and has so far attracted over six million hires.

Bike sharing schemes in cities are meant to benefit our health by reducing traffic congestion. In fact, London was a little late to this particular party. Barcelona launched its scheme in 2007, the same year as Paris, Seville and a year later than Lyon and Stockholm. The idea has spread to China with Hangzhou starting a cycle sharing in 2008 and Guangzhou last year. In the United States, Los Angeles and New York are likely to join in soon.

The proliferation of cycle schemes will provide a lot of data on how increasing the popularity of cycling may impact on urban air quality and also on citizens' health. Contemplating cycling in the city, you may

One of the enduring images of the World Trade Center terror attacks is of survivors fleeing amidst dense and choking clouds of debris issuing from the Towers. What toll might such massive exposure to dust pollution have on the long-term health of your lungs, and other body organs? Ten years on, we have some answers, thanks to two studies from researchers at Mount Sinai Medical School and elsewhere in the United States, which have just been published in The Lancet. The new research agrees with earlier studies, finding that rescue and recovery workers involved in the 9/11 disaster have a high risk of developing a range of physical and mental problems, including asthma and impaired lung function.

Around 50,000 people worked in rescue and recovery both in the immediate aftermath and in the weeks and months following 9/11. These included firefighters, police officers, construction and municipal workers. For most, I would imagine this act of public duty involved exposure to several

We have £18 million to spare to help improve London’s air quality before next year’s Olympics - now that the construction of the venues has come in under budget. And if the Mayor doesn’t get on with it, we stand to face a £175 million fine from the International Olympic Committee. That’s the price of exceeding EU pollution limits during the event and is laid down in a contract that was signed by the Mayor and the government in 2005. So they have had six years to put measures in place to make sure London’s air quality meets the required standards. What progress has been made?

There is the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) scheme, which was introduced in 2008 to help protect us from the health hazards of diesel. Under the LEZ, vehicles like lorries, coaches, and

Air pollution is usually invisible. You normally only see it indoors when it settles as dust or layer of grime on your furniture and other surfaces. In fact, air pollution is a complex mixture of liquid droplets, and solid particles, that come in a range of sizes classed as coarse, fine and ultrafine. These tiny particles are bombarding your body the whole time, indoors and outdoors. Some, like pollen grains, may make their presence felt by irritating your nose and eyes, as in an attack of hay fever. Others, like carbon monoxide molecules, may penetrate into your bloodstream and cause long-term damage to the heart. It pays to know a bit about the three main size classes of particle, so you can think about reducing your exposure.

Coarse particles.

These range in size between 2.5 and 10 micrometres in diameter and include fungal spores, which may trigger asthma and hay fever. The fungus

Is air pollution in London now out of control? Simon Birkett, Director of Clean Air in London has just pointed out that the capital has, by far, the worst nitrogen dioxide pollution in Europe. London stands to face huge penalties from the European Commission, which oversees legal standards for pollution levels in Member States. A number of other areas in the UK are not far behind London levels of nitrogen dioxide pollution (Eastern, East Midlands, Glasgow, Kingston upon Hull, Greater Manchester, North East, North West and Merseyside, The Potteries, Southampton, South East, South Wales, Teesside, West Midlands, West Yorkshire, and Yorkshire and Humberside).

Simon Birkett said: "London has the highest concentration of nitrogen dioxide of the 27 capital cities in Europe after a decade of inaction by successive Governments. London has twice now breached within days legal standards required since 1999 to be

There may be a holiday mood around, but there are no celebrations in order when it comes to air quality. First of all, the London Air Quality Network reported on April 21st that the concentration of PM10s (particulate pollution linked to a range of health issues) at its Marylebone Rd monitoring station had gone above the EU limit of 50 micrograms per cubic metre for the 36th time this year. We have now breached the legal limit for PM10s for a whole year in London (35 exceedances are allowed in a calendar year) and it is only April! You may remember that London is already in trouble with the EU for breaching air pollution laws and a £300 million fine is looming. Can Londoners bear the cost - and I don’t mean the financial cost, but the toll on their health?

Commenting on London’s air quality crisis, Simon Birkett, Founder and Director of Clean Air in

There has been some rather sensational reporting on the impact that Japan’s earthquake has had - and will have - upon the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and how this will impact air quality both in Japan and around the world. Some newspapers and TV channels have been comparing the radiation leaks from the plant with the Chernobyl nuclear disaster that happened in the Ukraine in 1986. Well, this is a fast-moving story and who knows what might happen in weeks and months to come? But it seems to me that such a comparison is irresponsible scaremongering. Here are a few of the facts that we know:

• Excess radiation from Japan had not been detected by UK monitoring stations straight away - but then low levels of radioactive iodine were found in the air over Glasgow and Oxford at the end of March, according to the Health Protection Agency.
• Although radiation from Japan has reached the West Coast of the United States , the US Department