Reducing indoor and outdoor air pollution in healthcare settings

Air pollution causes up to 36,000 deaths in the UK every year and both cause and worsen lung disease. While outdoor air pollution may be a topic for governmental policy, we, as healthcare professionals, can take a range of steps to minimise our own contribution to local levels of air pollution, improve the air quality in our places of work and support patients in managing their risk from air pollution in their daily lives.

In this paper we consider the importance of indoor and outdoor air quality in our places of work and the practical steps we can take to improve air quality for ourselves and our patients.