Living in the most polluted parts of a city appears to have a similar effect on your blood pressure as becoming overweight, according to the world’s largest ever study of the effects of fossil fuel emission on human health.

Researchers warned their findings showed that current European Union limits on air pollution were not low enough to adequately protect people.

Those limits are regularly breached in parts of the UK and the Government has been taken to court in order to force it to introduce measures to address the problem.

According to official figures, an estimated 40,000 people a year die prematurely in the UK because of the air they breathe. The World Health Organization has warned air pollution is “wreaking havoc on human health”, while campaigners have described diesel fumes as the “biggest public health catastrophe since the Black Death”.

The new study investigated the effects of air pollution and traffic noise on 41,000 people in five different countries, Spain, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, for up to nine years.

When the research began, none of the participants had high blood pressure, but more than 6,200 reported they had developed the disease or had started taking drugs to lower their blood pressure during the period.

The researchers found that those living in the most polluted parts of a city had a higher chance of developing it than people in less polluted urban areas. They said the risk was similar to someone with a normal body mass index becoming officially overweight.

Traffic noise was also a factor: people living in areas where the average night-time noise level was 50 decibels – about the same level as a conversation at home – had a six per cent higher change of high blood pressure compared to those where the average level was 40 decibels, which is like a library.

Professor Barbara Hoffmann, of Heinrich-Heine-University in Düsseldorf, who led the study, said: “As virtually everybody is exposed to air pollution for all of their lives, this leads to a high number of hypertension cases, posing a great burden on the individual and on society.

“One very important aspect is that these associations can be seen in people living well below current European air pollution standards.

“This means the current legislation does not protect the European population adequately from adverse effects of air pollution.

“Given the ubiquitous presence of air pollution and the importance of hypertension as the most important risk factor for cardiovascular disease, these results have important public health consequences and call for more stringent air quality regulations.”

The researchers said they had been able to show that traffic noise and air pollution were both independently linked to high blood pressure.

They added it was possible that they affected the body in different ways. Air pollution may affect the heart and blood vessels by causing inflammation, a build-up of damaging molecules in the body, and disruption of the nervous system. Noise is believed to affect the nervous and hormonal systems.

The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Show all 10 1 /10 The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Ukraine A radioactive sign hangs on barbed wire outside a café in Pripyat. The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Bulgaria Mandatory Credit: Photo by NUKARI/REX (407890f) A power plant outside Sofia STOCK OF BULGARIA - FEB 2003 Rex Features The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Belarus The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Russia The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Armenia The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Bosnia and Herzegovina Women wearing masks walk in front of academy of fine arts as smog blankets Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina December 23, 2015. With severe air pollution affecting the city nestled among the mountains, the authorities have declared the first level of preparedness, advising the segment of the population that is at health risk to reduce movement in the mornings and evenings, appealing to drivers to use motor vehicles less and ordering heating utilities to lower the emission of harmful gases. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic REUTERS The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Georgia The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Hungary TOXIC SPILL, AJKA, HUNGARY-OCTOBER 9, 2010: This is an image of the toxic spill in Ajka, Hungary affecting the villages of Kolontar and Devecsar Hungary. (credit: DigitalGlobe) DigitalGlobe The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths China The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Moldova

Commenting on the research, described in the European Heart Journal, Jenny Bates, a Friends of the Earth air pollution campaigner, said the evidence about the impact of air pollution on people’s health was clearly increasing.

“Crucially, this study shows that there are health risks, even when levels of fine particles of air pollution are below EU legal limits – and in fact the World Health Organisation say there is no known safe limit for this pollution,” she said.

“Air pollution leads to 40,000 early deaths in the UK every year. It causes lung cancer, contributes to respiratory disease including worsening of asthma, and to heart disease with this latest study linking it to high blood pressure.

“Urgent action is needed to get dirty diesel vehicles off our roads, and to reduce road traffic. The UK Government must be bold and put in place a plan to phase out diesel, support Clean Air Zones across the country and offer people real alternatives to driving, in order to save lives and improve health.”

Science news in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Science news in pictures Science news in pictures Pluto has 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen Pluto has a 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen that is doing strange things to its surface, Nasa has found. The mysterious core seems to be the cause of features on its surface that have fascinated scientists since they were spotted by Nasa's New Horizons mission. "Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball - completely flat, almost no diversity," said Tanguy Bertrand, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and the lead author on the new study. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there." Getty Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year PA Science news in pictures Jackdaws can identify 'dangerous' humans Jackdaws can identify “dangerous” humans from listening to each other’s warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. In the study, a person unknown to the wild jackdaws approached their nest. At the same time scientists played a recording of a warning call (threatening) or “contact calls” (non-threatening). The next time jackdaws saw this same person, the birds that had previously heard the warning call were defensive and returned to their nests more than twice as quickly on average. Getty Science news in pictures Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperatures at which they are incubated. Warm temperatures favour females. But by wiggling around the egg, embryos can find the “Goldilocks Zone” which means they are able to shield themselves against extreme thermal conditions and produce a balanced sex ratio, according to the new study published in Current Biology journal Ye et al/Current Biology Science news in pictures Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Reuters Science news in pictures Ancient four-legged whale discovered in Peru Scientists have identified a four-legged creature with webbed feet to be an ancestor of the whale. Fossils unearthed in Peru have led scientists to conclude that the enormous creatures that traverse the planet’s oceans today are descended from small hoofed ancestors that lived in south Asia 50 million years ago A. Gennari Science news in pictures Animal with transient anus discovered A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a “transient anus” that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste Steven G Johnson Science news in pictures Giant bee spotted Feared extinct, the Wallace's Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. An international team of conservationists spotted the bee, that is four times the size of a typical honeybee, on an expedition to a group of Indonesian Islands Clay Bolt Science news in pictures New mammal species found inside crocodile Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal New Mexico Museum of Natural History Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold Faye Levine, University of Maryland Science news in pictures Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies Getty/AFP Science news in pictures Nobel prize for laser physicists The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his "optical tweezers" which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gérard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers Reuters/AP Science news in pictures Discovery of a new species of dinosaur The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. In Sesotho, the South African language of the region in which the dinosaur was discovered, its name means "a giant thunderclap at dawn" Viktor Radermacher / SWNS Science news in pictures Birth of a planet Scientists have witnessed the birth of a planet for the first time ever. This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star. ESO/A. Müller et al Science news in pictures New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists Layers long thought to be dense, connective tissue are actually a series of fluid-filled compartments researchers have termed the “interstitium”. These compartments are found beneath the skin, as well as lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels and muscles, and join together to form a network supported by a mesh of strong, flexible proteins Getty Science news in pictures Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists Working in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a team led by archaeologists at the University of Exeter unearthed hundreds of villages hidden in the depths of the rainforest. These excavations included evidence of fortifications and mysterious earthworks called geoglyphs José Iriarte Science news in pictures One in 10 people have traces of cocaine or heroin on fingerprints, study finds More than one in 10 people were found to have traces of class A drugs on their fingers by scientists developing a new fingerprint-based drug test. Using sensitive analysis of the chemical composition of sweat, researchers were able to tell the difference between those who had been directly exposed to heroin and cocaine, and those who had encountered it indirectly. Getty Science news in pictures Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter's great red spot The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image's colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth. Pictures by: Tom Momary

Greenpeace senior campaigner Areeba Hamid said: “The UK is facing a public health emergency due to air pollution, mainly caused by diesel cars.

"Even though the list of symptoms is worryingly long, the Government’s plan to bring safe air to all Britons is conspicuous by its absence. As we begin the process to exit the EU, any legislation around air quality should take the best of the current EU standards and make them even better.

Three of the five countries where this study was undertaken are already seeing cities moving to cleaner technologies and transport systems. It is time for the UK to decide if it wants to join that shift, or continue spending billions on NHS resources to treat conditions linked to air pollution.”

However Professor Francesco Cappuccio, who is vice-president of the British & Irish Hypertension Society, said there should be a "big note of caution" about the research.

“The present aggregate analysis suggests that whilst measures of air pollution across different European countries are associated with a greater risk of ‘self-reported’ hypertension, there is no evidence of such an association with the incidence of ‘measured’ hypertension," he said.

“It is well recognised that the awareness of hypertension in the general population is weakly correlated with its presence when measured, and the lack of symptoms or signs often associated with it makes self-reported estimates unreliable, often biasing population hypertension estimates.