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51
It would appear from these figures that people already affected
with circulatory disturbance were unable to sustain the extra strain
thrown upon the lungs by the heavy pollution and succumbed very
quickly.
In contrast, the general effect on sufferers from respiratory
disease was more prolonged but none the less fatal. (Exceptions
to this were Pulmonary Tuberculosis and lung Cancer—sufferers
from these complaints appeared to be affected almost immediately).
Without affecting to draw any conclusions, it may be mentioned,
as a point of interest, that further investigation of Greenwich
deaths due to respiratory diseases registered during the two weeks
covered by Table IV has revealed that approximately 80% of these
occurred in the lower and more congested regions in close proximity
to the River and the industrial areas—the higher portions of the
Borough, such as Blackheath and Kidbrooke, being little affected.
Before any effort is made to correlate or draw any inference
from the foregoing data it must be remembered,
(a) that the records used were obtained from only one station ;
(b) that so far as atmospheric pollution is concerned this
station may be considered as being located in one of the
darker spots of the Borough; and
(c) that on an average the wind blows from one quarter of the
circle around West-South-West for half the year and from
the reverse quarter around East-North-East and each of
the other quarters for one-sixth of the time. The resultant
effect is to send much of our atmospheric pollution to the
North and East.
Observations.—From the information available it would
appear that some relationship may exist between the number of
deaths registered and atmospheric pollution, for the graph curves
are somewhat similar. Deposited solids, however, constitute a
constant factor in the life of the Borough and although an increase
in these solids was evident during the " Smog " period, it was
hardly sufficient to cause such a rise in mortality and it is reasonable
to suppose that some other factor was involved.
In normal atmospheric conditions smoke and sulphur dioxide,
being very light, are rapidly whisked away into the upper air by
the prevailing air currents. However, during the fog period a
temperature inversion served to act as a lid or umbrella and, with
the absence of wind, these substances and other products of combustion
were confined to the lower regions causing a steep rise in the