Do not live in a city if you want a long life, UCD conference on urban living is told

If you want a long life, do not live in a city. If the traffic doesn't get you, the air pollution will.

Such was the simple message from a conference yesterday at the UCD University Industry Centre entitled "Urban Living - Is Your Health at Risk?"

Noted Irish and international speakers examined risk factors associated with urban living and discussed how people decide when risks seem unacceptable.

Prof Michael Ryan, head of the department of pharmacology and president of the Irish Society of Toxicology, which organised the event, said malignant cancer rates were 6 per cent higher in Dublin than in the rest of Ireland.

Death rates for all injuries and poisonings were also higher - almost 25 per cent above levels for the rest of Ireland.

"We don't have to be completely negative about these problems," he said.

If public awareness was raised, then "things can be done" to improve the situation.

Prof Helmut Greim of the University of Munich discussed the significant health risks associated with diesel engine exhaust fumes.

The exhaust contained solid carbon particles which had an irritating effect on the lungs, but more importantly, these were coated in a collection of complex chemicals. Many of these were known or suspected carcinogens.

For years, people suspected petrol exhaust was responsible for the most serious urban motor pollution but this was not the case, he said.

Taking urban air pollution as a whole, some studies indicated there was a five times higher exposure to these substances for city dwellers compared to those living in the country.

Dr Iona Pratt of the Health and Safety Authority asked delegates if they were concerned about their exposure to the chemical substance, dihydrogen monoxide, which could cause death by inhalation and was essential to cancer cells.

A negative reaction was commonplace despite the fact the substance was only water.

She discussed people's perception of risk and the fact there was often a lack of trust by the public in scientific experts.