Happy Air, Happy Skin

Understanding the Link Between Air Quality and Skin Health

The air around us affects more than just our lungs. It plays a daily role in skin health, too. Pollution—like smoke, dust, and particulate matter—can damage the skin’s protective barrier, leading to irritation, flare-ups, dehydration, and visible ageing. Even indoor air can carry irritants like VOCs and allergens.

Supporting clean air—both inside and outside—can help protect your skin and reduce the load it carries.

🧴 How Pollution Affects Your Skin

Polluted air can contribute to:

• Oxidative damage: Free radicals from pollution break down collagen and elastin, leading to fine lines, sagging, and dullness.

• Hyperpigmentation: Pollution can overstimulate melanin, causing dark patches and uneven tone.

• Breakouts and congestion: Tiny particles clog pores and worsen inflammation, especially in urban settings.

• Dehydration: Pollutants can strip skin of moisture, leaving it vulnerable and sensitised.

• Flare-ups of existing conditions: Pollution may exacerbate eczema, rosacea, and acne by weakening the skin barrier and fuelling inflammation.

Need a few practical tips?

You’ll find matching flashcards for this topic in the Happy Skin Collection — digital resources designed to support your skin one day at a time.
Browse them in the shop at Skin at Home™ on the main website.

🔎 Want to Check the Pollution Level Today?

Here are two simple ways to check the pollution forecast in your area:

1. Use the Met Office Weather App

   • Download it from your app store

   • Enable notifications and turn on the pollution alert in settings

   • Open the app, tap on your location, then scroll down to see “Air Pollution”
     (It’s listed alongside UV index, pollen, and weather conditions)

2. Use Defra Forecasting
👉 https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/forecasting

• Scroll to the postcode search box (under the map)
  Enter your postcode and click Search.

• A map will update above.
  Just below, you’ll see your nearest air quality monitoring station.

• Scroll down slightly and click the 5-day forecast table to view pollution levels (1–10 scale) for today and the next few days.

❓ But Where’s the Skin in Public Guidance?

The answer? It’s missing.

While government bodies (like DEFRA and the British Heart Foundation) talk about pollution’s effects on the lungs, heart, and brain, they rarely mention skin. Even though it’s the first organ affected.

For example:

• The UK Parliament's POSTbrief 354 (2023) acknowledges that pollutants can be absorbed through skin—but skin health is not listed as a consequence of exposure.

• National public advice focuses on asthma and heart disease, but ignores eczema, rosacea, and barrier disruption, despite evidence linking them to air quality.

• Local councils like Wigan are beginning to include skin in their messaging—but national consistency is lacking.

🧩 Why This Matters

Everyone has skin.
And because people care about it, it can be a starting point for wider health action—like improving home air, reducing pollution, and adopting healthier habits.

The Skin Well® project highlights this gap — because when skin is left out of air quality conversation, the public is left without the full picture.

📚 Trusted Resources

• Check UK Air Pollution Levels (DEFRA)
  https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/forecasting

• Health Matters: Air Pollution – GOV.UK
  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-matters-air-pollution

• State of the Environment – GOV.UK
  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-environment

• Indoor Air Quality – Parliamentary POSTbrief 354 (2023)
  https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/POST-PB-0054/POST-PB-0054.pdf

• DEFRA: UV and Skin Health
  https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/research/ozone-uv/impacts-on-health

• Wigan Council: Dangers and Effects of Air Pollution
  https://www.wigan.gov.uk/air-quality/dangers-and-effects.html