Pollution and Diseases

Industrial towns were overcrowded, damp, and polluted. The air was
polluted with smoke and pollutants from factories, the water is also
polluted by the burning of coal and by-products of the production
processes involving the manufacture of iron, steel, and chemicals, and
people in the town also burnt coal for cooking and heating, which
increasing the air pollution.

The population of the towns and cities has been growing rapidly, there
were insufficient amenities and services to cope with this large amount
of number. Most towns had little or no clean drinking water and proper
drainage systems. Housing was in very short supply and a family can
only live in one or two rooms. The life expectancy of people living in
cities was way lower than those who live in the countryside.
In 1842 Edwin Chadwick published a report entitled “The Sanitary
Condition of the Labouring Classes”. The content of his report was
shocking. Chadwick reported that the death rate in industrialized cities
and towns was because of unclean air, polluted water, overcrowding,
and poor diet. In 1848 the government spurred public concern about
cholera and typhoid epidemics that killed thousands of rich and poor,
passing the first Public Health Act. A Board of Health was set up in
London, followed quickly by boards from other cities. The health boards
were not particularly effective until 1867 when men working in towns
were given the right to vote. And in 1875 a second Health Act was
created, that made local councils responsible for public health including
cleaning streets, providing street lighting, and rubbish collection. The
government brought new laws so city slums could be pulled down and
new house and sewer systems were built.