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We spoke to two Londoners about how air pollution, often an invisible toxin, has affected their health: Chloe Harewood: There I was in my late 20s, early 30s feeling more unwell gradually getting worse to the point where it's become intoler- able for me. I can smell the pollution in my front room, as soon as I step out my front door and I'm on my doorstep I'm assaulted by fumes. About a year and half ago I began to notice that walking down the street became quite unpleasant for me I was beginning to become much more aware about the pollution around me. One of the symptoms that was quite distress- ing for me was hives, rashes and lumps on my skin that would come and go, and that's a sign that there's inflammation in my body. But I wasn't really making a link. I went to see vari- ous doctors, allergists and they weren't able to shed a light on what my problems were. I even- tually was fortunate enough to see a doctor that was an environmental specialist and was able to arrange tests for me which revealed high levels of benzene and high levels of nickel. I was diagnosed with a sensitivity to those chemicals and they're both found in cigarettes and car fumes. I've never smoked in my life. I work in Central London and can only put it down to this constant exposure to this filthy air. Peter King, Taxi Driver diagnosed with ME/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: I was born in East London and at the age of 35 I started on the knowledge. I started to get upper respiratory tract infec- tions. It got to a stage where I was put on steroids because of the severity. I didn't know what was going on. But I continued with work, and then I ended up with a severe case of sinusitis in 2006 and I had to go to hospital to have an operation. My sinuses were blocked because of the inhalation of the exhaust fumes and the pollution. What was in my sinuses ended up in my gut. We've since carried out some investiga- tion into ME and one of the symptoms is the breakdown of the gut lining and the inability to absorb B12. The operation improved things for a while. But then I started falling asleep behind the wheel. I blacked out four times on the way home. I said to my wife Lisa, the next day, I can't do this anymore. This is going to kill me. The exposure affected my breathing. It affect- ed everything. My body started to slow down. It didn't happen overnight, it happened gradu- ally. But the trigger, as far as I am concerned, was the exposure to toxic fumes. Pollution is a killer. The level of exposure is inhumane. It's essential society looks at this situation and makes immediate changes and doesn't regard a certain number of deaths as collateral dam- age. 8 ISSUE 107 / 2018 REAL MEDIA London broke its annual air pollution limit in the first month of 2018. That means for 330 days a year Londoners are breathing illegal levels of toxic air. The main driver of pollution in London is transport. THE AIR WE BREATHE BREXIT MEANS CHLORINATED CHICKEN? It would allow US food staples such as chlorinated chicken, hormone-fed beef and Genetically Modified foods which are currently banned by the EU, to be sold here. But is this what we want? It would mean a lowering of standards, and acceptance of US rules on food which are much looser. It could mean we know less about what we buy. To find out more about this story go to realmedia.press to read about the 'The Tory-Trump Plan to Kill Food Safety with Brexit Chicken' A group of Conservative think tanks from the US and UK were caught creating 'shadow trade deals' that deregulate UK standards on food and drugs.