Large airports like Heathrow and Gatwick produce toxic emissions in such huge quantities they'd be shut down if they were power stations or chemical plants. And, guess what - the Blairport will outdo them all. Official figures anyone? Not on your life.
Imagine a vast bubble of polluted air approximately 20 miles across with an airport at its centre. The health of everyone who lives and works in that bubble is under serious threat, and those already suffering medical conditions will be at even greater risk. Welcome to the world of the mega-airport - an idea driven by greed, ignorance, and lack of vision.
In the first two minutes of take-off, a 747 emits as much air pollution as 3000 cars. This has been compared to setting fire to a petrol station and flying it over your head. But aircraft also spend much of their time on the ground, taxiing, idling, and waiting for take-off. At these lower speeds, their engines are highly inefficient, pumping out even more pollution for every gallon of fuel they burn.
Along with the aircraft come a host of other major polluters, including the supply and maintenance operations, the refuelling facilities, and the massive flows of road traffic carrying people, supplies and cargo to and from the airport.
The toxic chemicals that form the airport pollution bubble include many which are highly damaging to health. This isn't a point of debate - it's fact. Here are the main types and their effects:
These disrupt lung function, attack immune cells, increase infection, and trigger asthma in children. They contribute to a range of respiratory disease - from shortness of breath to chronic bronchitis.
These comprise thousands of chemicals including known carcinogens such as benzene and 1,3 butadiene. There are also many hydrocarbons which irritate the skin, cause breathing difficulties and damage lung function.
When nitrogen oxides and VOCs react with sunlight the result is ground level ozone. Even in low concentrations, this can inflame the lungs during moderate exercise. It causes chest pain, nausea, and congestion, and exacerbates asthma. Repeated exposure can lead to irreversible lung damage.
This is exactly what it sounds like - tiny particles of solid or liquid matter that we breathe in. The size of these particles is critical. If they're over 10 microns across we can probably cough them out. Under 10 microns and they lodge deep in the lungs with deeply unpleasant consequences. 99% of the particulates emitted from a jet engine are smaller than PM10.
PM is associated with almost every kind of chronic respiratory problem including asthma, emphysema, chest pain, and loss of lung efficiency. Long-term exposure is associated with increased risk of death from heart and lung disease.
PM also carries carcinogenic material into the lungs and can combine with other damaging chemicals such as nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide - delivering an amazingly toxic package right to the place in the body where it can do most harm.
At low levels, carbon monoxide prevents concentration and disrupts the nervous system. At high levels it causes headaches, drowsiness and nausea. At very high levels it kills.
A powerful lung irritant associated with chronic bronchitis, sulphur dioxide is especially worrying for people with asthma as just a few minutes exposure can trigger an attack. Its dangers are multiplied when it combines with particulate matter which can take it deep into the lungs.
So how much pollution can we expect the Blairport to produce? The government consultants (see Revenge of the wobbly bridge people) are masters of understatement. They say that the new airport is unlikely to have a significant impact on PM10 pollution - but are careful to avoid saying what the acceptable limits are.
They are silent on VOCs, ground level ozone and carbon monoxide. However, even they admit that thousands of residents beyond the Blairport site will be exposed to concentrations of nitrogen oxide above the exceedence level. They say that improvements in technology could mitigate these impacts. There's nothing like looking on the bright side.
Well let's get real. Although the government has avoided gathering or publishing pollution data for UK airports, preferring to peddle the myth that airports contribute little to local air pollution, the recent public enquiry into the building of a fifth terminal at Heathrow unearthed some valuable data. It makes horrific reading.
Taking an area around Heathrow of 8 x 6 kilometres, the airport was responsible for 59% of nitrogen oxides, 76% of sulphur dioxide, 48% of VOCs, and 45% of carbon monoxide. By 2016, with Terminal 5 in operation, Heathrow will be pumping out each year over 13,000 tonnes of nitrogen oxides, nearly 10,000 tonnes of carbon monoxide, 640 tonnes of sulphur dioxide, and over 2,000 tonnes of VOCs.
Incredibly, Heathrow will be generating more volatile organic compounds than any other single source in England and Wales, with the possible exception of the BASF plant on Teeside. And these figures allow for improvements in technology.
As for particulate matter, we know that the guidance level of 50 micrograms PM10 per cubic metre is exceeded for miles around Gatwick airport, reaching levels of 85 at the airport centre.
The government's reluctance to come clean on airport pollution figures is matched by its reluctance to commission or publish research on health impacts. For these we have to go to Chicago Midway in the USA, which is comparable in size and activity to Gatwick.
A report by the US Environmental Protection Agency on the elevated cancer rates around this airport concluded that emissions from aircraft were responsible for 10.5% of cancers due to air pollution. The presence of VOCs, including formaldehyde, benzene and 1,3 butadiene being major contributors.
Now consider this. Chicago Midway has approximately 300,000 air traffic movements (ATMs) per year; Heathrow currently has about 460,000. The Blairport, nearly a third larger again than Heathrow, will have a massive 590,000 ATMs.
You don't need to be Einstein to work out that if pollution levels are already causing major health problems at Midway with 300,000 ATMs, the Blairport is going to create a whole lot more when it operates at virtually double that rate.
The aviation industry and the government are putting apparent economic growth before health. By failing to measure and control pollution generated by UK airports, the government seems prepared to risk the health and well-being of everyone living and working in the airport bubble.
The Blairport plan shows no change in this mindset - on the contrary it will lay the concrete foundations for many decades of health problems and the immeasurable cost of treating them.