A new study finds that existing regulations could avoid 6,751 early deaths among adults in the UK by 2030 compared to if no regulations existed. That estimate nearly doubles to 13,269 avoided adult premature deaths if all possible technically feasible measures are employed to reduce air pollution immediately.

But they don’t cover most of the pollution emitted by the UK’s agriculture sector, which has emissions predicted to rise in the coming years. Earlier this year, a report from the Environmental Investigation Agency even found that UK farmers were using a legal loophole to burn and dump thousands of tonnes of toxic agricultural plastic every year.

Lead author Dr Eloise Marais said: “Our study demonstrates that existing legislation and regulations already have a sizeable benefit on health, but more ambitious adoption of readily available measures, especially for livestock farming and fertiliser use, could benefit thousands more.

“Currently the UK government...