Air quality dips despite increased efforts

Defra is taking its traditional line – that the air we breathe now is cleaner than any time since the industrial revolution – but the air quality indicator shows that as some pollutants continue to fall, levels of others remain stable or are even rising.

The indicator is one of the 68 of those used to steer Government’s Sustainable Development Strategy. It aims to present trends for annual levels of particulate and ozone pollution, the two pollutants thought to have the greatest health impacts, as well as the number of days on which levels of any one of five other pollutants were moderate or higher.

The readings suggest that the UK is on track to meet its targets for reducing levels of benzene, lead and butadiene. Sulphur dioxide is in hand for the nation as a whole, though there are problems in some localised areas which are being addressed.

Emissions from heavy road traffic mean that objectives for nitrogen dioxide and particles have been missed along many busy roads and city centres.

Initial analysis shows that the UK has not met the ozone or carbon monoxide objective in some areas, although Defra believes that when the data is ratified and published in April, it may show that the country as a whole scrapes through on its carbon monoxide target.

While clear progress has been made in some areas, the results are disappointing as they show no improvement for the two pollutants which present the greatest risk to human health, ozone and particulates.

Ben Bradshaw, the Defra Minister responsible for air quality, told the press that more needs to be done at local, national and European level if progress is to be made on ozone and particulates.

“The latest air pollution data show mixed results, in part due to the heatwave that Europe experienced last July, which helped to produce high levels of ozone. Such heatwaves are predicted to become more common because of climate change,” he said.

“Nitrogen dioxide and particulates continue to be a problem in specific locations – usually associated with traffic emissions.”

The main results are, at a glance: