Health Quotes
Sort by: Year | SourceHealth quotes from 2026
Official/Statutory Adviser to the Government Sources
Research also suggests that humans and the natural environment suffer negative health impacts at ever lower levels of pollution than previously thought...air pollution remains one of the greatest environmental risks to people and ecosystems.
Health quotes from 2025
Governmental Sources
UK Health Security Agency:
The UKHSA stated that their position is that pollutants including oxides of nitrogen are non-threshold; i.e, an exposed population is likely to be subject to potential harm at any level and that reducing public exposure to non-threshold pollutants (including nitrogen dioxide) below air quality standards will have potential public health benefits.
Health quotes from 2022
Official/Statutory Adviser to the Government Sources
Dr. Colin Church, Chair of the Independent Review:
...given the risks that incineration poses to human health and the environment, and the risk of lock-in, Scotland should not construct more capacity than it needs and only some of the currently planned capacity should be built...
Other Sources
Greenpeace and the Runnymede Trust:
Across the UK, waste incinerators burn rubbish into ash, fue gas and heat. People living nearby complain about the noise and smells that they emit, which sometimes become so unbearable that residents avoid going outside...Waste incinerators are a clear example of a form of environmental harm which disproportionately impacts people of colour, who are more likely to live in their vicinity.
Health quotes from 2021
Other Sources
Aidan Farrow, a researcher at the Greenpeace International Science Unit:
There’s really strong evidence that even small increases in particulate pollution can have a measurable impact on health...Anything that is going to produce more air pollution in places where people are going to breathe it, there will be a health impact. It’s effectively a political decision of how big you’re willing that impact to be."
Health quotes from 2018
Other Sources
Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA):
Incineration converts waste into air pollutants, fly and bottom ash, boiler slag, and wastewater sludge through burning. This process harms human health and the planet by emitting nanoparticles and other respiratory irritants, cancer-causing dioxins and furans, heavy metals including mercury, cadmium and lead.
Health quotes from 2017
Governmental Sources
Public Health England:
There is a wealth of consistent evidence demonstrating clear adverse effects of exposure to air pollutants on health outcomes across all population groups. For example, poor air quality is linked with an increased risk of developing chronic conditions (e.g., COPD and type II diabetes), neonatal complications and poor birth outcomes, cancer, worsened respiratory outcomes and childhood mortality, among others. Notably, there is consistent evidence for the adverse health effects associated with exposure to particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10)
Defra, Public Health England and Local Government Association:
...the latest epidemiology demonstrates that harm occurs at pollution levels below EU limit values, so if your area doesn’t have an AQMA it doesn’t mean there isn’t a public health issue to consider
Defra, Public Health England and Local Government Association:
There is no safe level for particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5), while NO2 is associated with adverse health effects at concentrations at and below the legal limits.
Health quotes from 2014
European Union Sources
European Parliament (Directorate General for Internal Policies):
Although WHO AQGs [World Health Orgnisation Air Quality Guidelines] are based on health considerations, exposure even below the guideline values may constitute health risks that cannot be excluded. This is especially true for pollutants such as PM [Particulate Matter] for which it has been found that there is no threshold level below which adverse effects can be excluded. Also, mixtures of pollutants might have additive effects; highly sensitive groups might also be affected when exposed to levels at or below the WHO AQG.
Health quotes from 2013
Other Sources
World Health Organisation (WHO):
PM [Particulate Matter] is a widespread air pollutant, present wherever people live. The health effects of PM10 and PM2.5 are well documented. There is no evidence of a safe level of exposure or a threshold below which no adverse health effects occur. Since even at relatively low concentrations the burden of air pollution on health is significant, effective management of air quality aiming to achieve WHO AQG [World Health Organisation Air Quality Guidelines] levels is necessary to reduce health risks to a minimum.
Health quotes from 2003
Other Sources
World Health Organization:
The current WHO Air quality guidelines (AQG) provide exposure-response relationships describing the relation between ambient PM and various health endpoints. No specific guideline value was proposed as it was felt that a threshold could not be identified below which no adverse effects on health occurred. In recent years, a large body of new scientific evidence has emerged that has strengthened the link between ambient PM exposure and health effects (especially cardiovascular effects), justifying reconsideration of the current WHO PM Air quality guidelines and the underlying exposure-response relationships...Epidemiological studies on large populations have been unable to identify a threshold concentration below which ambient PM has no effect on health. It is likely that within any large human population, there is such a wide range in susceptibility that some subjects are at risk even at the lowest end of the concentration range.