When a London anti-pollution organisation polled British lawmakers about the greatest risks to public health, most MPs were wrong, ranking traffic accidents or heavy drinking ahead of air pollution as a leading killer of Britons.
“The vast majority of over 100 members of Parliament responding to our survey displayed a shocking level of ignorance about the health impact of air pollution,” said Simon Birkett, head of Clean Air in London, an advocacy group.

“”n particular, over two-thirds of Conservative MPs responding said air pollution has less impact than road traffic accidents,” he said on releasing the survey results on 23 May.