DOCTORS in South East Cornwall have given a ’health warning’ on driving - and say that high levels of air pollution in the district are posing a danger.

Warning labels have appeared on petrol pumps all over Cornwall overnight last night as concerned GPs join with Extinction Rebellion (XR) in a mass flyposting campaign.

The environmental action group want to draw attention to the damage to health caused by fossil fuels. They’re calling for more transparency over the pollution levels caused by emissions from vehicles and their effects.

Graphic images on the labels stuck to petrol pumps imitate the health warnings on cigarette packets. The aim was to convey a ’clear and overdue’ message on the health risks of driving without disruption or confrontation, says XR.

Many local doctors have supported the action – in particular in Saltash, which is one of 17 towns and cities in the UK where fine-particle air pollution meets or exceeds the World Health Organsiation limit of 10 micrograms per cubic metre.

Meanwhile the A38, which passes through the town, registers between 54 and 62 micrograms per cubic metre of Nitrous Oxide at nearby measuring stations in Tideford and Landrake: the National Air Quality Standard is just 40.

Dr Marc Bramham, Consultant at Derriford Hospital and Saltash resident said:

“Perilous roads, toxic air and climate collapse are grave threats to all life on Earth.

’2020 gave us a glimpse of the cleaner, safer surroundings we can enjoy without fossil fuels. This doesn’t require a scientific breakthrough, we already have all we need to make the change”

Dr Joshua Hamilton, a GP in Saltash said: “We are all aware of the health benefits of walking and cycling; I noticed the roads and byways felt safer and the air smelled sweeter when fewer cars were driving during the covid lockdown.”

Penzance based GP, Dr Helen Angel, said that on first glance, climate change “didn’t seem to affect her personal or professional life”.

“I hear about it in the news but life seems to go on normally,” she said.

“However, if I look carefully, I see that most of the diseases I treat are caused by pollution of our environment, our air and our food, the result of a consumer society run by big corporations polluting the planet. This threatens our food supply and our survival. We need change now.”

There are growing calls for health warning labels to be routinely put on petrol pumps as is already the case in Sweden.

The UK Government has the opportunity to take a lead on this, say Public Health academics Professor Sir Andy Haines, Professor Kristie Ebi and Mike Gill, who have written about the subject in a recent article for the British Medical Journal.

They say that labelling petrol pumps would be one of a package of measures to accelerate progress towards net zero emissions.

The UK is set to host the next United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change conference in Glasgow in November.

Many of the health professionals most concerned about air pollution are those who have dedicated their lives to improving child health.

Consultant Paediatrician Helena Clements said: “As a paediatrician it upsets me immensely that not only is child lung growth stunted through air pollution but our children’s future home is being ruined by fossil fuel driven climate change. I would call on all health professionals, parents and young people to ensure this message gets out: Fossil Fuels are dangerous.”

The alternative, say GPs, lies in strengthening cycle networks, increasing public transport, building on the growth in remote working, and encouraging localism.

’By doing these things we can make the air cleaner, our climate safer and our neighbourhoods better places to live,’ said Dr David McKelvey, who is part of the Doctors for Extinction Rebellion Group.

’This drive to get off fossil fuels and move rapidly away from the internal combustion engine will clearly improve our patients’ health.”