"From a heart point of view it is difficult not to draw a correlation with the similar effects that we see with cigarette smoke and on an organ-level these effects are very similar to the effects of smoking cigarettes, which we all recognise are bad for us," he said.
Children are particularly at risk from air pollution, said Jonathan Grigg, professor of paediatric respiratory and environmental medicine at Queen Mary University of London. "The danger comes not just from peaks in pollution, like we saw earlier this month, but also from long-term exposure. Britain has some of the highest levels of such pollutants in Europe. There is already strong evidence for diesel pollutants having an effect on cognitive function in kids.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/29/diesel-engine-pollution-premature-deaths-costs-nhs-billions
