WEBVTT

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[Music]

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[Bryan Martin:] The inventions
of the 18th century

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brought industry to England.

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Mechanization spread
like a rat wherever

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coal and coke were available.

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And the banners of
this exclusive advance

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streamed into the sky
from the factory chimneys

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and the dwelling houses
which were built nearby.

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Smoke and dirt came to
mean wages and wealth.

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And in the North, the
proud saying was born--

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where there's smoke,
there's brass.

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Black towns have come to
be regarded with affection,

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and the enormous costs of
dirty air are overlooked.

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But more than 100 million
pounds is spent each year,

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repairing the destruction
caused by chemicals and soot.

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In isolated instances, the
skills of great architects

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and the beauty of
forgotten sculptures

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are being uncovered from
the corrosive grime.

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The cost of cleaning the
west front of St. Paul's is

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10,000 pounds, and to
clean the whole cathedral,

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150,000 pounds is needed.

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This is what air pollution costs
the nation every five hours.

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It's been estimated that
the effect of the cleaning

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will last about two centuries
now that the city of London

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is a clean air zone.

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These chimneys will
not smoke again.

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But the benefits
of clean air zones

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are spoiled by the smoke
from their neighbors.

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Two miles away from St. Paul's lies

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Suffolk, where the target here for completion of the Clean Air Program

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is not until 1974.

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Throughout the whole
country,

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there's a lack of urgency about cleaning the air.

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Supplies of smokeless fuels
are allowed to dwindle,

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and government excuses
are given and accepted.

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Meanwhile, the costs of
dirt continue to rise.

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Twenty-five million pounds a year on the nation's laundry.

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The daily drudgery
of repeated cleaning

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goes on, as the products of inefficient heating

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fall endlessly inside
and outside the house.

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When the washing
is put out to dry,

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it's likely to be covered in
smuts before it's taken in.

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Recreation grounds are often
grim places of sooty grass,

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especially in the
industrial North.

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Here the average air
pollution is four times

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as great as in London.

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The drabness and the
dirt of the North

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may be important
reasons for the movement

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south of younger people.

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The unskilled and
laboring classes,

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officially called
Social Class 5,

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tend to live in the crowded centers of industrial towns,

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while professional and
managerial classes,

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officially Social Class 1, live, in general,

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in the countryside on the
outskirts of these towns.

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Money buys distance.

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Social Class 1 live and exercise in clean air,

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while people of Social Class 5, in the centers of towns,

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breathe in dirt and
chemicals continually

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from the moment of birth.

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The more physically active
they are, the more air

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they draw into their
lungs and the greater

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is the dose of poison
they must take.

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Bronchitis is five times more common in Social Class 5

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than in Social Class 1.

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Children in prams receive the
full blast of traffic fumes

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before any dilution
can take place.

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Mothers can wash their
children's clothes,

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but they cannot wash the dirt
from their children's lungs.

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[...]

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The dirt we breathe in flows
into the lungs and gets lodged

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there permanently, making the
black lung of the townsmen

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on the right easily
distinguishable from

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the countryman's.

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Normal lung tissue, seen
down the microscope,

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has a gossamer appearance.

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But sooner or later, this gets
destroyed by dirt, chemicals,

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and coughing.

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The air we breathe contains
very many different pollutants.

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Soot still comes from industrial chimneys.

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Also from domestic fires.

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Sulfur dioxide from diesel
fumes, domestic smoke,

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and industrial smoke.

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Benzopyrene-- a known
cancer-producing substance--

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from cigarettes, domestic
fires, and diesel fumes.

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Carbon monoxide
from traffic fumes.

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These and many other poisonous
substances in the air

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pass down the bronchial tubes and cause

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inflammation and lung
diseases in many people.

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Bronchitis causes
30,000 deaths a year

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and a loss of 27
million working days.

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Unknown thousands
of men and women

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are crippled by recurring
chest illnesses.

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[Betty Cale:] How does your bronchitis affect you?

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[Patient 1:] Well, it makes me so out of breath...

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It slows me up.

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[Betty Cale:] Does it curb your activities?

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[Patient 1:] Yes, very much so.

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[Betty Cale:] Have you had
to change your job because

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of your breathlessness?

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[Patient 1:] Yes.

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I worked as [?]

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It became too heavy for me.

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So I had to take a look at a lighter job at a laboratory

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where I can relax, sit down,
and take things more easily.

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[Betty Cale:] Is this lighter job as well paying as the other?

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[Patient 1:] No, definitely not.

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[Betty Cale:] How do you get to work?

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[Patient 1:] By bus.

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[Betty Cale:] How long does it take you to walk from the bus?

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[Patient 1:] Well, three times than what it used to do.

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[Betty Cale:] Why does it take you so long?

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[Patient 1:] Well, 'cause you've got to stop to
get, catch breath. [?]

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While this is going on, I look at the shop

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windows or looking at anything.

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It also...you might have peoples looking at you.

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Is he dotty?

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I saw him doing this yesterday.

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He stops and gots to stay
there until he can properly

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get his breath back to set off again.

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[Betty Cale:] You find it embarrassing?

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[Patient 1:] [Inaudible]

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[Betty Cale:] Take a big breath, right in.

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Get set.

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Out!

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Fine.

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Ordinary breathing.

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This is normal breathing.

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In a few moments
I'm going to ask

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you to take a big breath
in and blow it out

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as hard and as fast as you can.

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OK.

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Take a big breath right in.

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Get set.

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Out! Right out!

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There you see the
normal vital capacity

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and the rate at
which he can blow it

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out when he makes a big effort.

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This is a patient whose lungs
have been seriously damaged

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by bronchitis.

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In a moment, I will ask him to take a big breath in

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and then blow it out as hard and as fast as he can.

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As you will see, he
can't get very much out,

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and what there is is very slow.

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Now, take a big breath right in.

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Get set.

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Out!

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He can't get it out
quickly because his bellows

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have been very badly damaged.

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All right, normal breathing.

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[Bryan Martin:] Hospitals are Crown property

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and exempt from the Clean Air Act.

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Medical apparatus becomes
damaged with dirt,

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often from the
hospital's own chimney.

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In this hospital, the cost of cleaning far exceeds

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the cost of drugs.

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Many bronchitics sit at
home, too breathless to work.

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[COUGHING]

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[WHEEZING]

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[Betty Cale:] How old are you now, Mr. Holmes?

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[James Holmes:] 58.

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[Betty Cale:] How long have you been out of work?

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[James Holmes:] Six years.

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[Betty Cale:] Do you sit like this all day?

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[James Holmes:] Yes.

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[Betty Cale:]  Why do
you sit like that?

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[James Holmes:] It's the only way that

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I can breathe easy is this.

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[Betty Cale:] Do you have any pain?

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[James Holmes:] Yes.

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It cause pain in my elbows.

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[Inaudible]

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[Betty Cale:] Are they sore?

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[James Holmes:] Very sore.

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[Betty Cale:] Do the days seem very long to you?

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[James Holmes:] No, the days ain't bad.

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It's the nights what's long.

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[Betty Cale:] How long do you usually sleep?

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[James Holmes:] Um, about three hours.

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[Betty Cale:] What wakes you up?

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[James Holmes:] Well, I couldn't tell you [?]

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I'm short of breath.

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[Inaudible]

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[Betty Cale:] Can you lie flat?

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[James Holmes:] No, can't lie flat.

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[Betty Cale:] Did you have a good night last night?

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[James Holmes:] No.

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No, about an hour last night.

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[Betty Cale:] And then, what happened after an hour?

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[James Holmes:] Well [?] at 8:30 I'm back again for another hour.

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Sometimes I do an hour,

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sometimes I do with less.

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It all depends. On my breathing.

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[Betty Cale:] And you sit up here in the night as well as the day?

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[James Holmes:] Yes!

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Oh yes, yes.

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[Bryan Martin:] In the overcrowded conditions of small houses,

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young children
breathe in the germs

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that are coughed over them.

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[Young girl:] Once upon a time, on a cold winter's evening

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when the snow was falling gently from the sky and it looked like...[coughing]

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[Inaudible]

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[Holmes coughs as girl continues to read.]

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[Bryan Martin:] Many authorities regard clean air

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as a luxury to be enjoyed at some time when

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it's more convenient.

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We cannot postpone our
next breath until it's more

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convenient, and in the meantime the air we breathe is dirty

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and dangerous.

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Bronchitis and other lung
diseases cripple and kill.

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[Mr. Holmes coughs and wheezes.]

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People need clean air.