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47
There was in the London administrative county and in the Greater
London area, a marked rise in the number of deaths from a number of
causes in the week ending 13th December, a rise which persisted but to a
diminishing extent over the next two weeks. In the administrative
county of London the number of deaths from all causes rose from 945
in the week ending 6th December to 2,484 in the next week. The corresponding
figures for deaths due to bronchitis and pneumonia were 121 and
872, and from diseases of the heart and circulatory system 318 and 801.
The corresponding figures of the deaths from all causes in the Greater
London area were 2,062 and 4,703. It is common for severe smoke fogs
to be followed by an increase in the number of deaths from bronchitis,
pneumonia and heart failure following respiratory disease. The especial
feature of this occasion was the abnormal extent of the rise. Most of the
deaths occurred amongst the older people, though almost all age groups
were affected to some extent. Very striking on this occasion was the
rapidity with which the deaths started to increase, there being an obvious
increase even on the first day, 5th December. One writer who described
the fog as a catastrophe of the first magnitude said, "There is reason
to believe that the fog incident in December, 1952, caused deaths in
London on a scale possibly never experienced before from this cause.
It is hoped that such an event will never recur—or be allowed to recur."
These increases in the numbers of deaths can give only a slight
indication of the amount of illness, pain and distress that must have
occurred. A more accurate guide to this is the number of applications
made to the emergency bed service for the admission of patients to
hospital. As many as 492 applications were made at the height of the
fog, a figure to be contrasted with that of 293 at the height of the influenza
epidemic on 1st January, 1951.
The condensation of moisture on solid or liquid nuclei which results
in fog, is a natural phenonomen and, apart from their effect in reducing
visibility, fogs are in themselves innocuous. It is when they are contaminated
by the impurities produced in cities and industrial areas that
they become dangerous. It is only occasionally that these meterological
conditions occur under which town fogs of such proportions as those of
December are produced. But the emission into the atmosphere of the
polluting matter which makes the fogs so destructive goes on continuously.
Apart from that occurring in special localised areas, the pollution of the
atmosphere is caused by the combustion of coal, the polluting substances
comprising on the one hand a group of solids such as coal dust, ash and
tarry soot, and on the other gaseous sulphur oxides. The diminution of
the solid constituent depends on the efficacy of the combustion and of
the velocity of the flue gasses which in its turn is conditioned by the
design of the flue system and on the chimney draught. The formation
of the oxides of sulphur is inevitable. There has been in recent years a
diminution in the pollution by the domestic chimney because of the
increased use of gas, of electricity and of central heating, and by the use
of improved appliances. On the other hand, the gas and electricity substitutes
used in the house are produced at power stations at which dust
and grit are discharged, and because, in all, more coal is being burned.