Virtually every home in the UK is exposed to air pollution in accordance with the guidelines of the World Health Organization, according to the most detailed map of polluted air to date.
More than 97% of the addresses exceed the WHO limits for at least one of the three key pollutants, while 70% of the addresses violate the WHO limits for all three.
The map, created by the non-profit group Central Office of Public Interest (Copi) and Imperial College London, combines 20,000 measurements with computer simulations to make pollution estimates every 20 meters across the country. People can check their address on the website addresspollution.org for free.
The website also ranks each address according to national pollution levels. For example, Buckingham Palace in London is in the 98th percentile, with highly polluted air, while Balmoral Castle in Scotland is in the zero percentile, with the cleanest air.
The cities with the highest share of housing in the top 10% of the most polluted nationwide are Slough in Berkshire, with 90%, followed by London with 66%. Others in the top 10 include Portsmouth, Leeds, Manchester and Reading.
Diagram showing the share of housing in the top 10 most polluted places
Copi calls for a legal requirement that air pollution data be disclosed to home buyers and tenants, as is already the case with asbestos. “Air pollution affects us all. With these new accurate data now available to the public, it would be a shame for the real estate industry not to start acting transparently – life depends on it, “said Humphrey Mills, founder of Copi, which promotes public awareness campaigns. which he said were being ignored by the government.
The WHO drastically reduced its air pollution guidelines in September to reflect growing scientific evidence of the damage to health caused by toxic air. A 2019 review concluded that air pollution can damage every organ in the body, causing at least 7 million early deaths a year worldwide and around 40,000 in the United Kingdom. The WHO says air pollution is the greatest threat to the environment for human health and is a public health emergency.
The UK’s legal limit for nitrogen dioxide is four times higher than the new WHO limit, but has not yet been met in most urban areas. The country’s legal limit for small particles smaller than 2.5 microns (PM2.5) is five times higher than the WHO limit, while the limit for PM10 in the United Kingdom is 2.7 times higher.
Air pollution activist Rosamund Kisi-Debra said: “These new figures show once again that the government is failing the British public. Now people can really see the dirty air they breathe at home, school or work. Everyone needs to know what they are breathing and now with this new public service they can. ”
Kisi’s nine-year-old daughter Ella Ella died in 2013, and the coroner’s decision later cited air pollution as the cause of death. The Coroner then issued an official “report on the prevention of future deaths” in April 2021, which stated: “Awareness-raising [of air pollution] will help people reduce their personal exposure to air pollution. The publication of this information is an issue that needs to be addressed by both national and local authorities. “
Professor Sir Stephen Holgate, Special Adviser on Air Pollution at the Royal College of Physicians, said: “Air pollution is an invisible killer and it is easy for people to forget and ignore. It is essential that the public receives data on air pollution about where they intend to buy or rent. In many cases, like that of little Ella, it can be a matter of life or death. ”
Rebecca Marsh, the UK’s property ombudsman, said: “Air pollution is information that all consumers need to know before deciding on a particular property. It can be said that this is essential information that all sellers or landlords must provide. “
The map shows average annual pollution levels for 2019, the last year that was not affected by the Covid-19 blockade and travel restrictions. Even using previous higher WHO guidelines, 55% of addresses in the UK would still exceed the limit for at least one of the three pollutants.
Sean Beavers, a researcher at Imperial College, said: “It’s not just a problem in London, so people need to think more about air pollution. What used to be considered reasonable levels has now been thrown out the window. “
However, Beavers said the models were not perfect and warned not to see sites with slightly higher air pollution ratings as necessarily worse than nearby sites with slightly lower pollution.
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